And There Was Light
by bellarme
Summary: The angel's blade killed Jace instead of severing his bond from Sebastian, and Clary finds herself back with her brother again, while Sebastian may not be quite what she has always thought him to be. And now she is seriously considering the plan of world domination by the side of Sebastian - or rather, doing anything to be by his side. May be incestuous.
1. All to Hell

Forgive me, Jace. Clary whispered silently as she thrust Glorious forward, sinking the angel's sword into Jace's chest. She felt her bloodied hand slide on the hilt as the blade ground against the bones of his rib cage. There was a scream—a sound of rage and pain and terror, the sound of someone being brutally torn apart. Sebastian, screaming as his bond with Jace was severed.

Fire exploded up through the hilt of the angel's sword and along the blade. Blood, scarlet and strangely incandescent in the light of the flames, spilled out of his chest. He staggered, spluttered blood, and fell forward. His eyes turned from the liquid gold she knew so well to a dull bronze, like metal rusted over. Clary stared in despair and horror as he collapsed forward onto the stones with a resounding crash that seemed to her to echo through eternity. I killed Jace. she thought dully. I. Killed. Him. So this is the end.

And yet. Not if he's more Heaven's than Hell's. That's what Simon said, right? The angel's blade will send those deserving of Hell to where they belonged, while those who are more Heaven's, stay. The blade of judgment, an instrument of Heaven itself. She had to have faith in it. She had to have faith in Jace.

Clary dimly registered the others rushing towards her – Simon, Izzy, Alec, Jocelyn – stopping abruptly and gazing with horror at what she had done. She barely noticed as her mother entreated her to leave, as Simon tried to pull her away, as Alec and Izzy remained uncharacteristically and ominously silent. Her fingers frantically sought Jace's chest, pressing down on his wound where the gush of scarlet blood was ebbing as if most of his life force had already been drained out of him, probing over his ribcage for the faintest pulse of a beating heart.

There was nothing.

Flames that burst out when the heavenly blade had sunk into Jace, having already consumed the blade itself, continued to devour him, filling him with incandescence from inside out. He was almost glowing – filled with light, like closest approximation to the angel that he was intended to be. Clary was barely aware of the tears streaming down her face as bright light consumed Jace from inside out, as his form burned hotter and brighter and fainter. 'NO!' Clary choked as he finally burst into sparkles of bright light, settling around them for a moment like glitters of distance witchlights or stars, before extinguishing into salt and ashes. These, too, disappeared.

There was a stunned silence on the battlefield. Clary was heaving with sobs, breathless with desperation, and wide-eyed with absolute stupefaction. She wasn't sure what exactly just transpired, but she knew that was not supposed to happen. Jace was not supposed to be burnt; he was not supposed to be hurt; he was not supposed to be gone. Jace was supposed to survive the severing of his bond from Sebastian because the Heavens are merciful and he deserved to live. And she, Clary, was supposed to be able to nestle in his arms afterwards, and not be the murderer of her boyfriend.

As if in a daze she felt someone hauling her to her feet. Shouts of amazement rose around her but she did not realise anything amiss until she felt her feet leaving the ground. Twisting around, she saw that a large white albatross was gripping her by the fabric of her scarlet dress, its claws surprisingly gentle such that her flimsy ceremonial garment was not even torn – or maybe the material was just tougher than it looked. Looking down, she could see someone – Alec – aiming at the large bird with his bow, but it was too fast for him and too far up, and the arrow easily missed. The bird's wings were slow but powerful and within another second they were already sixty feet in the air. Wind whipped through her hair as the albatross soared upward into the dawn.

* * *

Clary's eyes jerked open as her knees hit hard stone-paved ground. She must have dozed off during the long and uncomfortable journey dangling from the grasp of a large bird. She took in her surroundings – she appeared to be in a tropical garden of sorts. Exotic plants twined around stone pillars and walls, and draped over arches covered with moss. Flowers that could not be named added sporadic bursts of colour in the greenery, and a strange mixture of perfumes reached her nose, scents bespoke of foreign lands and sunsets and veiled smiles. Turning around, startled, Clary realised that the albatross was already gone.

'Enjoying the landscape, little sister?' A familiar – too familiar – voice whispered in her ear, and she jumped. Sebastian. She should have known. Only he, of all the people in the world, would still want her, would still come and get her no matter what it takes. Though she had to admit, Sebastian was surprisingly quick in his moves. As far as she knew, just under ten minutes ago he was on the run, from a battle between light and dark Nephilim which Sebastian was all too evidently losing.

She whipped around. Her brother lounged easily, wearing a characteristic smirk. He was still in the scarlet ceremonial gear he had donned for the raising of Lilith and the creation of the Infernal Cup, but that was the only indication that he had gone through the recent battle. His fair hair was barely windswept and his skin was smooth and free of injuries. His dark eyes, an endless lightless tunnel leading to, Clary knew, his equally lightless soul, were ringed with amusement, but also a touch of cruelty. Clary knew then that she was not going to get away with what damage she had inflicted on her brother's plans to raise a race of dark Nephilim and burn down the world to hell.

Her brain raced. She was in a completely foreign place, with no clue at all to her whereabouts, or how to communicate to the outside world. She was – as far as she could tell – completely alone with Sebastian. She was also completely unarmed and injured all over. Under normal circumstances her stomach would churn with the thought of what would happen, especially in light of the promise Sebastian had made upon their last parting to make her experience what was 'worse than death', but now she just didn't care. She killed Jace. She killed Jace.

'Sebastian.' Clary said with as much coldness as she could muster. 'I had wished we would never see each other again.'

Sebastian narrowed his eyes. 'Evidently, since you so painstakingly brought in your entire horde of Shadowhunter friends to interrupt my little ceremony and basically raised complete hell.'

Clary stared at him incredulously. 'You're one to talk to me about _raising hell_. Which was, as far as I remember, what _you_ planned to do, not I.'

Sebastian grinned, though his eyes were still cold. 'We were never so different, sister, you and I.'

Clary suddenly felt tired, too tired. Too tired to care what was going to happen to her, too tired even to disagree with Sebastian. She knew what Sebastian believed in, in his twisted, dark mind – that the two of them siblings were fundamentally similar, with a thirst for power that cries out from their blood. A viewpoint which Clary had always opposed with gusto and vehemence. Angel blood ran in her veins, while demon blood ran in his. They could not be more different. Yet now, with Jace's blood on her hands, she was not so sure. So she had good intentions – so what? Did she not kill the people she loved, cold-bloodedly, in the end? Did she not bring danger and sorrow and pain to whomever she met? Had she not, by her impulsivity and naiveté, raised living hell?

Sebastian watched the play of light across her eyes. She knew he could tell what she was thinking by the deepened curve of his smirk. 'Realizing now how I'm right, little sis? But of course I'm right. I'm always right.' He leaned in. 'You were wrong to have not trusted me.'

She stared into his dark eyes. They were somehow hypnotising, blackholes into which her consciousness was sucked. She shook her head slightly to clear it. 'Where are we, anyway?'

'You might find this place familiar.' Sebastian said casually. 'Welcome back. My house.'

Clary paused. 'Wait. The one which I had made gone?'

His mouth turned harsh. 'That reminded me, little sis. Another cross against me which would be hard to forgive. You making the house gone. Quite a trick, wasn't it?' he laughed mirthlessly. 'But your power would never be equal to mine. Remember, I am your older brother. You were special, but so am I. You may be gifted in the language of the angels, but so I am equally well-versed in the demonic tongue.'

'I don't quite understand.'

'Children of Lilith. Warlocks. God, but you are stupid.' Sebastian said this calmly, as a matter of fact. 'I am a child of Lilith, raised straight from her blood. And so am I part warlock. Magic and spells are no stranger to me. You may find me as competent as, say, your friend Magnus, who I might mention, is probably your friend no longer.'

'Wait, what? What about Magnus? Never mind,' she shook her head, seeing that Sebastian wasn't going to give her any more information. She thought of something. 'Why are you telling me all this, anyway? Why are you coming clean to me?'

'Because,' he said this as slowly as one might to a child. 'We're in this together.'

'No, we're not.' Clary closed her eyes. It seemed to her that they had gone through this a million times before. 'Why would I be on your side if your master plan is to burn the world down?'

'Who cares about the world if you cannot have what you want?' Sebastian said. 'Do you have another choice?'

Clary thought instantly of Alec, Izzy, Maryse, the devastated and accusing look on their faces that she had murdered – with intention, cold-bloodedly – their brother or son. She thought of Luke, who had seen his sister being the first sacrificed under the Infernal Cup, while she had watched on by the side of Sebastian. They would think that she had switched loyalty to Sebastian, after all. She thought of Simon, who had been willing to sacrifice himself to obtain the angel's sword in order that Jace could be saved, only to have his efforts turned to ashes due to her stupidity. Not to mention the Clave would never forgive her for the numerous Conclave laws she had broken, the most unforgivable one of all, the murder of a Shadowhunter. She remembered Jace once telling her, that those who murder a fellow Shadowhunter were seen as worse than demons, and were treated accordingly. No, she could not turn back to the Shadowhunters.

'I could stay out of all this. In peace. As if you'll ever let me.'

'As if anyone ever will. You are my sister. You have unlimited potential to power. Even in your wildest dreams you won't be let alone. You can't just sit by on the sidelines, Clary.' Sebastian stared straight into her eyes, ebony black into emerald green. 'You belong with me.'

_I belong with Jace_, Clary wanted to say, but the image of Jace bleeding on the ground, dying, turning into a million sparkling pieces; of her driving the blade straight into his heart, as Valentine had once done; of his eyes dulling, losing their life, dying, dying; these images rose up in front of her, and she had to gasp for breath. All of a sudden it was too much. She felt her knees give way under her, and the ground rising to meet her; but suddenly Sebastian's arm was around her, holding her up with iron-like strength. His mouth came down, harshly, on hers, moving as coldly and as roughly as the merciless cut of ice on water, bone on blood.

His hands were moving swiftly to cup her cheek, her neck, rubbing circles in the small of her back, and she hung limply, too tired to resist, letting herself be kissed and caressed. She wondered vaguely what he would do to her, if he would fulfil his savage threats, and did not care. Nothing matters, now that Jace...

Sebastian bit down, hard, on her lower lip. Clary cried out in pain as the copper taste of blood filled her mouth. 'What the –' She was silenced as Sebastian's mouth moved over hers once more, licking her blood clean, rhythmically, methodically. He let go of her then. She was too shocked to move or speak, and only stared at her brother who just kissed her and then bit her and now looked as bored as if nothing had happened.

'That was for the time you bit me yesterday.' He said calmly. 'Just to show you, it hurts. I hope you're more awake now. Forget about Jace. It should not be hard, for he made you weak, and you are born to be strong. The Morgenstern blood courses power through our veins, dear sister. And now, if you're ready, come down to breakfast.'


	2. Amatis

Clary stepped cautiously out of shower. The cold water was refreshing and she felt much more awake, though still gnawed with bone-tiredness. She had been grateful to finally strip off the uncomfortable scarlet gear, torn to scraps and stained with blood not her own – she had carefully inspected herself during her shower and found only minimal injuries, bruises and scratches. A small comfort amidst all the misfortunes that had befallen onto her, she thought, flinching at the thought of _whose_ blood it was that had spilled copiously onto her. She picked from the familiar wardrobe a silk-lined peach blouse, cut to fit about her shoulders but flow gently about her waist, and black dress pants, the closest approximation to jeans she could find among the clothes meant for her mother. She made a mental note to revamp her wardrobe, and soon.

Wait. _Her_ wardrobe? _Revamp_? Was she really deciding to stay with Sebastian after all? Clary mentally slapped herself. Sebastian was a twisted, evil lunatic who was plotting for world domination. Images of the dark Nephilim that he had created using the Infernal Cup, the raising of Lilith, the victims – _Amatis_, who had been nothing but kindness to her, now lost forever – raced through her mind, and she shuddered. No way.

But again, Sebastian was right. What other choice does she have? She could not turn back to the Clave, not even if she had wanted to, because Sebastian was keeping her well under guard now. Heck, he didn't even risk lending her a stele to clean up her wounds. Even if she had escaped, Sebastian, who had now lost Jace and who Clary knew did not take loneliness well, would literally raise heaven and hell to get her back. Might she not be a better asset to humanity by staying? _Not as if she would be any help to anyone; she would only mess everything up._

But – would she really join the dark side now? Be one of those proverbial fallen angels, one of the bad guys, murderers, monsters, the reason why children could not sleep at night? The thought of herself slipping thus far was too much. Clary could not make up her mind and decided to stay put for the moment.

As she descended the curving staircase, a warm smell of pancakes and muffins, butter and syrup greeted her. Sebastian looked freshly showered, in a black buttoned-up shirt and pants – her brother was never seen in any colour other than black and white, with the one exception of the scarlet gear he just changed out of. He sat at the head of the long glass and steel table that dominated the dining room and was already digging in to the breakfast platter before him, not bothering to wait for Clary. A plate was set out in the seat next to hers and Clary sat down gingerly, glanced suspiciously at the food before sticking her fork in with a shrug. It was good.

They ate for a while in silence. 'I think I'm supposed to say thank you for the breakfast.' Clary observed finally.

'I think you are.'

'I didn't know you could cook.'

'You don't know a lot of things about me, Clarissa.'

_Let's not go there again_, Clary thought hastily. She hated it whenever her brother brought up the topic of how little she actually knew, or bothered to find out, about him, hated it because of the blame implied, hated it because it was partially true.

She stared down at her plate. Pancakes and muffins were her favourites – she dimly suspected they were Sebastian's too, and quickly hoped against it. No eggs – Jace would have made eggs for her if he had been there. She remembered Sebastian drawling, 'He'll probably make you eggs every day for the rest of your life now, and you'll choke them down because you can't tell him you don't like them.' Well, there were no lies with Sebastian, not even common courtesy. If he had made her eggs she would unceremoniously throw them all down the drain, no qualms about it. Though she was surprised he even remembered her taste.

In this way, she guessed, they were actually like brother and sister.

A steaming mug was by her hand and she pushed it over, inspecting its contents cautiously. Coffee, straight and black. She crinkled her nose. 'That's how I take my coffee. Black.' Sebastian said. _As your soul_, Clary was tempted to add. She poured in a generous amount of milk before taking a sip, and looked up to find Sebastian staring at her appreciatively.

'No sugar,' he said. 'Sugar is for babies. I remember Jace always dumped entire packets of sugar into his coffee.'

Clary put down her mug, none too gently. She felt suddenly sick. 'Stop it.'

To her surprise, Sebastian held his tongue. He drained the last of his coffee and stood up. 'I have an errand to run today. You could learn to keep house,' he grinned at her wickedly.

'Where are we anyway?'

'Southern Venezuela. You probably won't be interested to come out anyway. But don't worry, I've got someone to accompany you.' At the last sentence he raised his voice, and a figure promptly took form from within the shadows of the kitchen. Clary gasped in shock.

Amatis. Luke's sister and the first victim of the Infernal Cup. A dark Nephilim. Clary did not know whether to be relieved that she was alright, or to be afraid because she was now completely foreign and under Sebastian's control. She bowed slightly towards him. 'My lord.'

Then, to Clary's surprise, Amatis turned to Clary and smiled, a warm, genuine smile of welcome that washed over Clary like gentle sunshine. She could almost believe that Amatis was exactly the same as she had always been, if not for her eyes, dark and pupil-less, like Sebastian's. But even her eyes were ringed with warmth, and the corners crinkled. 'I remember you like pancakes.'

Of course. Amatis had made breakfast for Clary every single morning, during her stay in Idris. Clary glanced at Sebastian, who shrugged. 'Guess I can't cook after all.'

'I do,' said Clary, finally recovering from muteness. 'I mean, like pancakes. Thank you. And Amatis?' she paused before throwing her arms around her friend, and hugged her tightly. Dark Nephilim or not, she was still Luke's sister, which would made her her aunt. 'I'm so glad you're alright.'

'Well, well, that's certainly touching,' said Sebastian, 'I thought it'd be nice to have someone you know around you. Now I must be off. Mark me.'

He handed Clary a stele, which she silently took. He bared his back, marred by the familiar savage whip cuts which Clary knew Valentine had inflicted on him – with demon metal, so they could never heal. To remind him of the perils of obedience, he had told her. Without a word she carefully Marked onto him the runes for Silence, Strength, Courage. She itched to tweak, slightly, the runes – change Silence to Muteness, or Courage to Rashness – and caused pain or at least inconvenience to her brother. But he trusted her, and there was really no point.

'It's interesting,' she said as she handed the stele back to Sebastian.

'What?' he asked, shrugging on his shirt.

'That you should be protected and blessed by the marks of the angel. I mean, demon blood runs in you, yet the angelic runes have to protect what was their mandate to eliminate from earth.'

His jaw tightened slightly. 'You forget that I am also Nephilim, and I am Nephilim before I am demon, or warlock. As much as you might wish otherwise.' His mouth twitched. 'And I've a feeling the angels don't care so much about their mandate as we might expect.'

He put his hand against the kitchen wall, and stepped outwards through the doorway that appeared into sunshine.

* * *

Clary decided to sleep. There was not anything else she could do. Not more than ten minutes had elapsed since Sebastian left before she realised his true intent for Amatis to be in the house – to keep an eye on her and make sure she did not escape. The faithful caretaker, gaily swishing a broom around, followed her everywhere, from the kitchen to the living room to her bedroom. When Clary closed the door of her bedroom, announcing that she would catch up on sleep, she distinctly heard the scratch of stele against the wood – Amatis probably marking some alarm rune on the door such that she would be alerted the moment it opened.

Clary smiled bitterly. Goes to show exactly how much Sebastian trusted her.

Not that she could blame him. She had, after all, stayed in the house as a spy once and caused the almost total annihilation of his first batch of Dark Nephilim – all except, she suspected, Amatis, whom Sebastian had somehow decided to bring with him. Most probably because he realised that the house was in bad need of a housekeeper, she thought wryly. Still, she wondered exactly how much of the real Amatis was still in Amatis. Most of the time she seemed genuine and gentle, much unlike the creepy, savage Dark Nephilim Clary had seen in battle. Except when Sebastian talked to her; then she had a look of total subservience.

It was really quite interesting. Clary doubted if even Sebastian knew much about the race that he created.

Sleep came more readily than she had thought possible – she must have been tired out. When she awoke, hues of sunset slanted in through her windows and the room was dim with the shadows of twilight. She sat up, groggily; for a moment she thought she was back at Luke's home, sleeping in the familiar guest room that had become her own room, with Luke and her mother hovering somewhere outside, secure in the bliss of the imminent marriage. Then memories washed over her and she remembered that she killed Jace, this was Sebastian's house, there was Amatis. She buried her face in her hands.

It was time to decide what to do.

Clary got up from bed and snuck over to the desk at the corner of her room as quietly as possible; she did not want Amatis thinking that she was up. There were loose scraps of paper on the desk, and some pens; no stele, but that was not to be expected. Clary took up a pen and began to draw.

* * *

'Sebastian took her!' Jocelyn yelled in frustration. 'Isn't it obvious? What else could have happened?'

'I wouldn't say that so easily. For all we know it might have been that _she went with Sebastian_, not so much that Sebastian _took_ her.' Maryse Lightwood said stiffly, not looking at Jocelyn.

They were seated around the table in the library at the Institute, all the adult Shadowhunters in New York region, and a good deal others from Idris, important officials of the Clave who sat stone-faced and silent, Consul Penhallow who looked as if she aged ten years, and representatives of Downworlders in the Council. Luke sat silently, watching Jocelyn, who was no longer a member of the Clave but whose standing was high enough to be significant, fumed and raged, her face almost the livid shade of her hair.

'So you're saying that my daughter is a murderer?' Jocelyn hissed, uncompromisingly. '_My daughter_, who risked her life going after Sebastian so that we could have information on what he was planning to do? _My daughter_, who also, if I might remind you, risked her life to save _your son_, who dragged her into the danger of staying with Sebastian in the first place?'

'Well she wasn't very successful in saving his life, was she?' snapped Maryse. 'Perhaps your two children finally decided to unite against the world, after all, and Jace just became an inconvenience. Oh, and speaking of family reunion, maybe you should be the next to jump ship. You're all Morgensterns after all.'

'Enough,' Jia, the Consul, interrupted before the argument could escalate. 'Right now, there is no evidence to indicate that Clary is on the side of Sebastian. Nor, however, is there evidence otherwise.'

'Consul,' Jocelyn said frigidly. 'She betrayed Sebastian to give us information. Without her, we wouldn't have known what he is up to at all.'

'Yes, well, but she also killed ….one of our esteemed Shadowhunters,' Jia said gently, unwilling to mention Jace's name in front of the Lightwoods – Maryse, who looked as stiff and cold as a statue of ice; Robert who sat silent and brooding, lines of grief etched on his face; and Alec, who looked pale and distracted to the point of being unwell. 'It could be part of a plan.'

'Clary – ' Jocelyn began to shriek, but Luke got up and put a hand on her arm. 'I think we should go.' He said gently. 'Inquisitor, Consul, is it decided that we'll just try to track both Clary and Sebastian, at the time being?'

'Yes,' the new Inquisitor spoke, for the first time since the start of the meeting. He was a tall, dark man, in his thirties, who moved with the grace of a panther, lethargic in appearance but dangerous. Marius Clearbrook. 'Sebastian will be killed on sight, but Clary…shall be retained for investigation.'

Jocelyn pursed her lips, but Luke nodded, 'Thanks.' Keeping his arm firmly on Jocelyn, he steered her out of the library, bumping the door against a very dismayed-looking Simon and Isabelle, who had their ears plastered against the library walls. _If Clary had been there, she would have been with them_. Jocelyn felt a painful pinch in her heart.

'Luke,' she whispered, 'if anything happens to Clary…'

'I know,' said Luke grimly. 'But we'll just have to trust the Clave for the time being. They're trying everything – tracking, warding, whatever – we're not in any better position than they.'

She shook her head. 'No. If there's anything I learnt from the past twenty years, it is never to trust the Clave.' She stared at Luke, her green eyes gleaming defiantly. 'I'm going to find Clary myself.'

'Jocelyn – '

'Clary did it for Jace. You think I wouldn't do the same for my own daughter?'

* * *

Clary sat back and stared at the finished Rune. It was a delicate design, curves wounding and binding into cuts of straight lines, floating off at the edges; reminiscent of a dream, a wisp of memory. It brings to mind a loose end, a drifting away, a new beginning. She knew what it signified: Forget.

Instead of a Rune for Secrecy or Espionnage or Escape, she created a Rune for Forget. In the past, in her darkest moments, Clary had always relied on the Runes she drew to give her direction. An invisible hand – her gut instincts – would guide her pen, from which she would draw strength and assurance. _Forget. _Now what was she supposed to do?


	3. Brothers and Mothers

**Hi guys! Sorry I forgot to include the front intro/disclaimer part in my previous two chapters - I was to excited to publish them! Anyway, thanks for all the reviews and please please please help to review my story ^^ Sorry if I can't update as regularly as I want to, I'll definitely try. In the mean time, enjoy the story :) All characters owned by Cassandra Clare.**

The three of them ate dinner in silence – Clary, Sebastian and Amatis. Clary was a little surprised that Sebastian did not forbid Amatis from eating at the same table as them, the way nineteenth-century Southern white plantation owners treated their black slaves, but she supposed Sebastian didn't really care about this kind of things. If he could use people, he used them; if not he left them well alone.

Well, besides the whole world of innocent people which he was prepared to terrorize and dictate over with an army of demons and Dark Nephilim in his insane plan of ultimate world domination, Clary reminded herself.

Dinner was roast beef with heaps of potatoes, salad and cherry pie. Clary had not believe that three people could finish so much food, but now, watching Sebastian scraping clean his second plate of beef and potatoes and reaching for the third, she had second thoughts. Sebastian was the very picture of the ravished teenage boy, and she thought that he looked more normal, less lunatic, as he devoured his food. Sebastian had returned in the evening with the smell of fresh snow in his hair and an unreadable expression on his face, and had sat down to dinner without a single word so far. Clary was as disinclined to start a conversation as he, and Amatis remained cheerily quiet.

At last Sebastian sat back with a sigh. Three servings of main dish and two servings of dessert. Clary could not suppress a chuckle at the thought of his well-muscled stomach being bloated by all that food. At that Sebastian raised his eyebrow.

'And how was your day, little sis?'

'Extremely exciting, as you might expect.'

'And mine was good too, thank you for asking.'

'Welcome.' Clary paused. 'You didn't eat lunch?'

Sebastian grinned suddenly, brightly. 'Did you just ask after my welfare? Could it be –' he leant in a little, ' – you're starting to care for me a little, after all?'

'No,' Clary said. 'I just don't understand how you could shovel down all that food. Please don't get your hopes up,' she added, in earnest. She thought wearily she had had enough of boys, or love. In her life three boys had been interested in her, out of which one was as close to her as a brother, one she thought was her brother almost the entire time they were in love and one was actually her brother. Not to mention one she killed, one she caused to become undead, and one, well, who was set to dominate the world, and who _was her brother for crying out loud_. Wow. No wonder she felt so messed up.

Sebastian leant back, mock playing in his eyes. 'Ah, but I'm hurt.' He said. 'To answer your question, no, I didn't. I was doing something much more worthwhile of my time….and enjoyable.'

'Like shagging half-drunk vampire girls?'

'Bingo.'

'Simon once told me,' Clary said, thoughtfully chewing on a piece of beef, 'that you have the vilest blood he has ever tasted.'

'Didn't expect better taste for an infant vampire who sticks around a bunch of gay Shadowhunters and plays nerd mundane games.'

'Only Alec is gay,' said Clary, rather indignantly. 'And at that time I didn't know why your blood was so disgusting. Though now, of course, I do.'

'Fascinating,' Sebastian said without batting an eyelid. 'I bet he thought your blood tastes wonderful.'

'Simon has never bitten me,' Clary said, her patience fast wearing thin.

'No. That was your angelic brother Jace, wasn't it? He gave his blood so he could save a Downworlder. Sort of hypocritical, considering that Downworlders weren't even allowed in their precious Institute.'

'Jace –' Clary struggled for breath. There were so many things wrong with what Sebastian had said, in his luring, baiting tone. 'Don't you dare mention his name. And he is not my brother.'

'You probably share more blood between the two of you than between you and I,' Sebastian pointed out. 'If I were a child of Lilith, strictly speaking you are both children of Izuriel. That doesn't go down well with you, I gather?' he said, his smirk deepening as Clary's face reddened with rage.

'The two of you are just like me and my brother, when we were young,' said Amatis suddenly.

Clary gazed at her, speechless with shock, her conflict with Sebastian all but forgotten. She knew that Amatis still retained her memories, but while remembering was one thing, bringing up, of all people, _Luke,_ so casually in conversation was another. Sebastian gazed at Amatis intently and Clary could tell he was as curious as she, what feelings Amatis had towards her brother, a supposed enemy, at this point in time.

'Luke,' Clary said carefully. 'So what was he like?'

'Oh, playful, really annoying – you know,' Amatis said lightly, seeming not to notice the suddenly tense atmosphere around the table. '_Boys_. We used to have all these huge arguments around the dinner table that would end with either me storming off to my room or him vengefully stealing all my food.'

Sebastian laughed, drily. 'Lucian would probably miss you right now.'

'No, he wouldn't,' said Amatis, sadly. 'He's getting married; besides, we never were so close for the last twenty years.'

'He would,' said Clary. 'He cares about you. You're his _sister_. Why don't you – why don't you try to get in touch with him?' she said, ignoring a warning glare from Sebastian.

Amatis shrugged. 'It's a pity, that he can't be trusted. I don't believe he would be of any use to Master. If he can't join us, it is better that he stayed out of it all.'

'And what if he insists on going against us?' Sebastian played along, pushing it further. 'What if he fights on the other side?'

Amatis bowed her head. 'If ever I come against Lucian on battlefield, I will kill him. I will do whatever you want me to do, Master. Before killing myself.'

The words hung in the room like a chilling mist before dawn. Clary looked carefully from Amatis, head still bowed, eyes glittering with determination, to Sebastian, dark eyes narrowed as if half-asleep, gauging his own power over her. Clary cleared her throat.

'I don't like it,' she declared. 'This whole "Master" thing. I wish you would make her stop calling you that.'

Sebastian's eyes snapped to meet hers. 'What if I like it?' he said. 'You don't get a say in this, little sis. I do what I please in my house.'

'_Our_ house,' Clary corrected. 'Didn't you say it was Morgenstern property? Valentine didn't make get to make a will, so I assume whatever he had, he passed on to _both_ his children. So yes, I do get a say.'

The moment she saw the gleam in Sebastian's eyes, she mentally slapped herself. Not again. She had to stop picturing this house as something belonging to her, stop acting as though her stay in this house was permanent. She blamed Amatis and her good cooking; it made it feel too much like home.

'All right,' said Sebastian, softly. 'Amatis, from now on, call me Sebastian.'

* * *

'So, Mrs Fray,' Simon said, enunciating his words carefully. 'Your plan involves racing halfway across the worlds to places that may not exist, to rescue a Clary that may not even be there?'

Jocelyn raised her eyebrows. 'Can you come up with anything better?'

Simon opened his mouth in a half-grimace, half-laugh, and looked around at the others in disbelief. Yet no one returned his incredulous look, much to his chagrin. Alec, as ever, was the picture of disconsolation; Simon doubted whether he even heard a word of Jocelyn's. Isabelle was resolutely staring at the ground. Luke was staring intently at his fiancée, Maia looking questioningly at Luke, and Jordan at Maia. Whatever else, Simon had to give himself credit for being a good listener.

'Listen,' said Jocelyn. 'Like I said, I know where Sebastian is likely to go. I know the old families of demons, Downworlders, Shadowhunters, and all the creatures in between, who he would want to make alliance with or, if not, get rid of. He would gravitate towards the centres of power, and _I know them_ – I was not once a Fairchild for nothing. We can go there and – '

'Timing,' said Maia. 'How can we be sure that they would be there at the same time as we?' she shook her head. 'Not that I'm against it, Mrs Fray, but your plan is a tad too … uncertain?'

'We don't need to be there at the same time,' Jocelyn said, edgily; Simon could tell she was fast losing her patience. 'We could just be _there_. And we can find clues, witnesses, anything – that can bring us to Clary.'

Maia and Simon exchanged a look; she kept silent. Simon began, 'Mrs Fray –'

'Simon _Lewis_,' Jocelyn raised her voice. 'This is _Clary_ we're talking about. Your best friend ever since ten years ago. Who rushed to a hotel of vampires to save you. Who risked herself giving you the Mark of Cain to protect you.' Her voice grew shrill. 'Are you saying you're not willing to –'

'No, no, of course not –'

'Stop yelling at Simon,' Isabelle said coldly, still staring at the floor. 'He's not the one who has done anything wrong here.'

'Oh, so Clary did something wrong, did she? By saving all your asses?' Jocelyn snapped.

'He's raising valid concerns,' Isabelle continued, disregarding Jocelyn coolly as if she was not there. 'Besides, how are we even going to get to all these fantastic places? It's not like we have any multidimensional pockets or anyone who can make a Portal.'

'Magnus,' said Jocelyn. 'I've thought about it. He –'

At his name Alec raised his head slowly. Quick as a flash, Isabelle moved in front of him to block Jocelyn from him; when she looked up to her, it was as if she were a particularly poisonous snake whose venom she wanted to protect her brother from. 'Don't. Ever. Mention. That. Bitch. In. Front. Of. My. Brother.'

Simon said, 'Technically, Magnus is not female.'

His feeble attempt to break the shocked silence failed miserably. Simon reflected that not everyone in the room knew about what happened between Magnus and Alec – how Magnus had found out Alec had made a deal with Camille to attempt to end his immortality and his life, so that they could die together like normal couples; how even though Alec annulled the deal in the end, Magnus could not trust him any longer. In fact, Isabelle probably only told him about their breakup.

There were other things too, which no one told him but he observed on his own: how Alec had been living in a state of perpetual dazedness, insensible to any word or touch; how he had barely eaten and slept, and then only like a robot; how Maryse Lightwood was worried senseless over him and Robert Lightwood refused to talk to him at all. And Isabelle had become a steward of justice, snapping out at her parents to leave Alec alone – determined to protect her only brother left.

'Well,' said Jocelyn, slightly bewildered. 'We can try other ways – I know other warlocks – if not, mundane air travel is not actually that bad – '

Isabelle shook her head, tiredly. 'Sorry, Jocelyn, but I don't think we can help you there.'

She hooked her arm through Alec's, and glanced at Simon. 'Let's go.'

'Wait,' interrupted Luke, who had since the beginning of the meeting been silent. 'You're not mentioning any of this to Maryse or Robert, are you?'

Isabelle paused and Simon saw from the flicker of uncertainty on her face that she was going to, as surely as dark shadows across a sky signified rain. 'You can't,' said Jocelyn, her voice raising. 'Clary was your _friend_. You're not going to stop an attempt to _save her_?'

'Sorry, Mrs Fray,' whispered Isabelle finally. 'I don't think I should cross my mother anymore. My family –'she indicated vaguely at Alec, '– need to do all we can to stay together.'

She led Alec firmly out of the room.

* * *

Clary had lain down on her bed when she saw a sliver of light from outside – her door was opened quietly. All traces of drowsiness faded instantly as she saw a dark shadow moved quietly into her room. Not wanting to stay in the darkness alone with her brother, she jerked her hand to knock the lamp on her bedside table on.

Sebastian grinned at her in the dull lamplight. 'Still not asleep, little sis?'

'What do you want?' she asked, tensed. Under her bed sheets, her hand gripped a fork she had managed to sneak upstairs from the kitchen in case of situations such as this. She had tried in the afternoon and realized that the door didn't lock. Not that it mattered.

Not that she had a chance against Sebastian, even with a fork.

'I had thought you'd be able to wait….longer,' whispered Clary, drily.

She tasted fear in her mouth, and adrenaline pumped through her veins. Goosebumps were rising along her arm. She knew this was going to happen, _she knew it_. Despite how nice – well, not nice, but nicer than usual – he had been to her in front of Amatis, almost big-brotherly, inside Sebastian was nothing but a beast, a demon. A demon who wanted her.

She shivered. Sebastian seemed extremely amused. 'I wonder what you're thinking.'

Clary shut her eyes, as if she could make him go away by ignoring him. She started thinking of Jace. _If only Jace was still here …._

Her two-week long Shadowhunter training had paid off as she sensed a movement of warm air above her and knew instinctively that Sebastian was moving closer. She tensed, waiting for him to strike – and felt a warm, wet pressure on her forehead. His lips.

'Goodnight, sister,' whispered Sebastian.

When she opened her eyes, he was gone and the room was dark.

* * *

'Mission day,' announced Sebastian as he met Clary's inquiring eyes over her mug of coffee. He was dressed, not in full Shadowhunter gear, but in tight black leather pants, leather boots and a leather jacket with a full hood; the inside of the jacket was glittering with blades. His weapon belt, too, was loaded. He had been sitting down to breakfast this way when Clary had made her way down, newly awoke. She wondered idly if it were uncomfortable to eat omelettes dressed as he did.

She wanted to ask where he was going, but decided against it. Not like he would ever tell her, or that she would even know the place even if he had. Instead she said, 'So where are we now?'

He grinned. 'Guess.'

'Can't see the window from here, so no guessing.'

He stared at her as if deciding whether to roll his eyes. Clary could almost see him do it – but then he didn't. A pity, she thought. It would have made him more human. 'It's London,' he said. 'And we're parked right outside the Big Ben. You're welcome.'

She sipped her coffee and said, as casually as she could. 'I want to go with you.'

'No.'

'You don't trust me,' she said, somewhat accusingly.

He raised his eyebrows. 'And you blame me for that? Last time I tried trusting you, you busted my ass.'

Clary stifled a giggle. Colloquial profanities were something she did not expect from Sebastian. 'What?' He said, suspiciously.

Clary put on a straight face. 'You have no reason not to trust me,' she pointed out. 'Look, I'm just bored. And we're in London, my dream city. Okay. And it's not like I could run anywhere or prattle to my mom about what I saw.'

'Actually, I don't expect less from you, you being my sister.'

'I don't have any ring this time,' she said, spreading her fingers wide. 'Nothing. I won't interfere in whatever you're doing, I swear.'

Sebastian hesitated. 'It would be dangerous,' he admitted finally. 'Though if anything, I expect you to handle danger full well.'

Clary's thoughts flitted momentarily to Jace. He would never have allowed it. He went raving mad when she went to Alicante, against his will, because it wasn't safe for her. He wouldn't have allowed her to risk herself in any way. And yet – she had always found herself in situations from which he could not save her, and she always found her way out of them. Self-preservation was one thing she, Clary Morgenstern, was really good at. She was not sure if it was a good thing, because that would make her selfish – too much like Sebastian, and their father, Valentine.

'So?' she asked.

'So, go and get armed,' said her brother, his cap of silvery white hair gleaming in the sunlight like his unreadable dark eyes. 'We're leaving in ten minutes.'

As Clary gobbled down her breakfast, she would not admit to herself that it was the memory of the goodnight kiss last night – that strangely déjà vu touch of trust, familiarity and mocking fondness – one which she had long missed without even knowing what she had been missing – that had made she want to give him a chance.


	4. Tear of Adam

**Hello! Here's another new chapter ta-daa!**** I hope you like the story so far. Drop me a review yeah :)**

**All characters owned by Cassandra Clare.**

Clary followed Sebastian down a narrow alley, lined on both sides with tall and regal medieval stone buildings, adorned with statues and gargoyles. Sebastian strode purposefully ahead, not waiting to see if Clary was following. She was busy gawking at the breathtaking architecture and the beautiful skyline, wishing for pencils and canvas to take it all down, that she only realized something was wrong when they made their third awkward turn.

'You don't know where you're going,' she wondered aloud, and the moment she said it she knew it to be true. 'You don't know where to go?' She repeated incredulously at her elder brother who had always seemed to her all-knowing and, well, pretty invincible. Sebastian's jaw tightened visibly.

'I do,' he said.

'No you don't. That's the second time we've crossed that corner; I recognize it.'

'Shut up,' he snapped. 'It's my first time to London, and streets get confusing. It may not the shortest way, but I sure as hell can get us to where we're going in the end.'

'How can you be so sure? I mean, if you haven't even _been_ there before…'

'Call it demonic sixth sense,' said Sebastian drily.

'Well, that's all very well, but I'm sure it'll be more helpful if we could read maps.' Clary mused. Reading maps was her strong suit. She suspected it was related her being such a visual person; she once took a test that told her she was adept at spatial distribution, and sure enough she was always the one dragging Simon in the right direction whenever they had to go anywhere. 'Tell me where we're going.'

'I don't think this place is recorded on any mundane map,' said Sebastian, crossly. 'Look, you tell me you're not going to interfere right? Just get out of my face and follow me.'

'Fine,' said Clary realizing how whiney she sounded but not caring. It felt good, not having to care about what someone else thought of you. Maybe that was what having siblings felt like, she thought suddenly.

Then again, this could be the added advantage of having a sibling whom you deeply hated. Genuinely, sincerely, deeply hated.

Finally Sebastian ducked under a shaded doorway off the corner of a street, so hidden in the shadows that it was almost unnoticeable. They entered what appeared to be a storage room, with heaps of cartons and cardboard boxes; Clary guessed they were at the back of some shop. A glimmer of light came under the gap of a dilapidated wooden door on the far right of the room. Sebastian led the way down a set of stairs to a cellar, lined with wine barrels and dust. The musty smell in the air, however, was not that which was found in most cellars. It reeked of straw, tobacco, and cattle. Clary willed herself to look harder and managed to peel away the glamour to see a small living quarter. Where there were wine barrels, a cozy bed with straw-stuffed bedding, a table and chairs came into view.

A shape groaned and shifted on the bed. Sebastian went over and held his witchlight high, light bursting onto the bed. 'Madison,' he said softly. 'I told you to expect me today.'

The shaped rolled off the bed, seemingly in shock; but it soon righted itself and unfolded into the figure of a boy, or a little man the height of a teenage boy before his growth spurt, in front of Sebastian.

'Valentine's son,' said the man. His tone with scornful yet his voice was thin and high, and did not altogether seemed to pose much threat. '_Always_ welcome, of course.'

'You hardly have a choice,' said Sebastian calmly. 'I have come to claim what I asked for.'

The man raised his chin defiantly. 'Just because you wanted something does not mean I have to give it to you. I bend to no law, nor power.'

Under Sebastian's witchlight, Clary saw that the little man donned a bristly black goatee. Dark curls clipped tightly around his head and out of them sprouted two thick, brown horns. Clary gasped in surprise, and glanced down. Sure enough, the man had not feet, but hooves, dark and hard and rubber-like.

Her gasp attracted the attention of Madison. 'And this is?'

'My sister,' said Sebastian shortly. 'She is under my care. Now, as we were saying – where are the pearls?'

Madison pursed his lips. 'There now. Wouldn't want to be pushy, if I were you. I am a warlock, and one endowed with greater power than my more human counterparts. I have been alive longer than you, Jonathan Morgenstern, and I know far more. You don't want to cross me.'

'Faun,' said Sebastian, deliberately. 'You may be a stronger warlock, but I have Shadowhunter blood. But no, I don't want to cross you. I am here to persuade you.'

'Persuade me what? For what purpose have you come to retrieve the Adam's Tears?'

'Pure pearls from the deep of the sea,' said Sebastian slowly, 'have seraphic associations. Legend has it that pearls are formed from the tears of angels which dropped into the lakes and seas of this world upon viewing the suffering of man. The earliest, most powerful pearls come from the tears of Adam and Eve. Eve's teardrops gave white pearls while Adam's yielded black ones, full and dark and lustrous as midnight. And only Adam's tears can gain an outsider entrance to the Court of Muirgen.'

'And why,' said Madison, his thin voice unrelenting, 'would you want to meet the Mermaid Queen?'

Clary stifled her gasp this time with difficulty. She guessed it made sense that Sebastian would want to meet with as many powerful creatures of this world as he could, to gain them to their side. After all, the Seelie Queen had allied with Sebastian; and the Mermaid Queen, whom Clary guessed to be somewhat similar to her faerie counterpart, could well do the same.

'That is none of your business. But I have not come to persuade you by words. I have something you might be interested in.'

Sebastian drew out something from the inside of his jacket. It looked like a collection of little bamboo tubes, bounded and tied in order of length, so that a gentle slope was formed. Clary could see nothing out of the ordinary in it, but the faun's eyes lit up. 'A syrinx,' he breathed. 'The instrument of prime faerie music, that only warlocks of goat-demon descent could play. Now where did you get that?'

'I would give you this, and tell you where to get more, if you hand over the pearls,' said Sebastian.

Madison hesitated. He seemed extremely unwilling to cooperate with Sebastian; on the other hand his eyes would not leave the strange musical instrument. Sebastian sensed his hesitation. 'Imagine the power you would weld over the faeries with this, the spells and the magic that would be opened up to you,' he said, coaxingly. 'What of the pearls? Your business with the Mermaid Court was done. They serve no better than souvenirs.'

Madison seemed to make a final decision. 'The Adam's Tears grant a visit to the mermaids, while the Eve's Tears allow one to see the mermen,' he said. 'That is because the merpeople have long had an affinity towards people of the opposite sex. Hence, the Adam's Tears draw strength from a female's touch. I have two of them. If you leave your sister here with me a night and a day, and give strength to my pearls, at the end I can let you have one.'

'A pearl for my sister and a syrinx?' Sebastian raised his eyebrows. 'Faun, you are not good at bargaining. Take it or leave it, a syrinx for a pearl.'

'The Adam's Tear has immense power,' said Madison, sounding secretly pleased. 'It is not something a syrinx can trade for, interesting powers though that may have. I insist on your sister.'

Sebastian's mouth tightened imperceptibly. 'No way you are touching my sister,' he said, his voice low and threatening. '_You _are the one who would not want to cross _me_, faun. I believe you don't keep up much with the affairs of the world. You do not understand my power. If you don't cooperate, I promise you will regret it.'

Madison turned away. 'I have enough of your negotiations, Shadowhunter. Either the girl stays, or you both leave now.'

Sebastian's mouth opened into a snarl and he was about to draw out a seraph blade from his weapon belt when Clary said quickly, 'I'll stay.'

'Clary,' Sebastian said, without turning to look at her. 'Now is not the time to be stupid.'

She ignored him. 'I am willing to stay and help Madison.'

'Well, well,' the faun rubbed his hands gleefully. 'I'm sure I'll like that very much. Shall we?'

'No,' said Sebastian shortly, 'She's not staying.'

'Then go.' Madison shrugged.

'Oh yes I am,' said Clary, looking at Sebastian urgently, willing him to look at her eyes. 'Sebastian - '

'_God_, Clarissa,' he snapped, finally turning around to glare at her with narrowed eyes. 'Can you don't be so god-damned self-sacrificial all the time? Adam's Tears are ancient and extremely powerful. You don't know what can happen to you if you get bounded to one of those.'

'I _want_ to,' said Clary, staring at Sebastian right in his dark, dark eyes, '_see_ the Adam's Tears.' She paused. 'I'm really curious about how they look like.'

Sebastian gazed at his sister, his face an indecipherable mask. The witchlight cast haphazard shadows along the contours of his chiseled face. Madison looked at the Morgenstern children curiously. 'So?'

'She stays,' said Sebastian, emotionlessly. He turned to Madison. 'My sister matches myself in ability and power and I trust her unconditionally. Though I do warrant you that if anything, _anything_ at all happens to her,' he leaned in to Madison who almost involuntarily took a step back. 'Your nine hundred years of living are as good as over.' Sebastian straightened. 'I'll be back same time tomorrow.'

* * *

Madison showed Sebastian out of the door before turning back to Clary. His eyes were gleaming with near-maniac excitement; he reminded Clary a little of Magnus, at the moment when he got his hands on the White Book. She wondered if all warlocks shared this thirst for deeper, more powerful magic. 'Now, now, little girl,' he said, his thin voice raising goosebumps on Clary's arm. 'You wait here for a moment while I get ready.' His eyes raked Clary's body and he gave her another grin before passing by her towards somewhere deeper in his apartment.

Clary shivered. Somehow the little goat-man had seemed much less sinister when Sebastian had been around. She almost regretted her plan now.

She ran her fingers over her weapons belt. There was a dagger there, a seraph blade, and some knives. Sebastian had not trusted her enough to give her a stele; she kicked herself for forgetting to ask him for one before he left. Now she had to rely fully on her Shadowhunter physical trainings and her innate battle instinct.

Madison hustled in and out of Clary's view, carrying in turn piles of books, ink-splattered parchments, assorted items which looked suspiciously like boars' tusks, snakeskin and an ostrich's feather, bottles of darkly swirling liquids, and, at long last, a box of woven fibre which resembled dried seaweed. This last item was conspicuously well-kept and dust-free, which was how Clary knew she had found what she wanted.

'Now,' he said, setting down the box onto the table, 'We can start. Let me check this book…'

He bent down over the table. Clary didn't wait; with one swift movement she leapt across the room, onto the table, knocking down inkbottles and crystal cylinders on the way; she grabbed hold of the woven box, rolled over, and, from her vantage point on the table, kicked Madison in the stomach, who had been too shocked to move. In the next instant she screamed, 'Sebastian!'

Sebastian promptly burst in just as Madison righted himself, more quickly than Clary would have expected with his little hooves and potbelly, and lunged at Clary with a snarl. Purple flames, burning hot and furious, shot from his fingertips, wounding themselves into serpents who hissed as they flew directly towards Clary. She dodged and rolled off the table, and threw a dagger at the snakes, which were disfigured, but only for a moment; at the next instant they were reassembled and flung themselves viciously at Clary.

But Sebastian was already between them. He swung his seraph blade in quick succession so that it formed a protective shell around them. Madison scowled and started muttering a spell under his breath, but Sebastian was muttering something too, and he was too fast for him. Before the faun could react, he had finished chanting his spell and flung some black powder at the other. Where the powder landed, it burst into dark flames – fire that seemed to absorb instead of emit light, which still hurt Clary's eyes to look at. Madison screamed a sharp, piercing scream, not unlike a goat yelping in agony; he was burning.

'Good job,' said Sebastian, panting lightly. 'That was smart.'

Clary ignored him. She stood up. 'What's that? Is that going to kill him?'

'Demon fire. Well, I guess that might happen in the end. But for now he's just going to burn. Really, really slowly.'

She turned to Sebastian. 'Stop it. Let him go.'

He looked at her incredulously. 'Are you crazy? Didn't you see what he was shooting at you? He was going to _kill_ you!'

'Not really surprising considering I was planning to steal his pearls. Lots of people have wanted to kill me before,' she pointed out. 'Sebastian, let him go.'

'No,' he said shortly.

'Sebastian – '

'Did you see this?' He turned on her, losing his patience, his arm sweeping a wide curve across the table, a mess of books and spilt liquids. The liquids were of strange colours, dark blue and translucent grey and bright, bright red. Sebastian dipped his finger in the liquids and waved his hand in front of Clary. 'This, this is faerie blood. This is the horn of a unicorn, powdered and dissolved. He was going to do some pretty dark magic on you, Clary, not just binding. He was going to leave you mutilated and cursed and god knows what else and was hoping to get away with it. _How can I let someone who wanted to do this to my sister live?'_ He nearly shouted in her face.

Clary flinched; but when she looked at the little warlock writhing and screaming in pain, she made up her mind. 'He didn't do it in the end, did he? That's all that matters. I knew you were always somewhere around me and you'd never let anything happen to me, and we outsmarted him, isn't that enough? Look, I have a better solution.'

Sebastian set his jaw in a stubborn line and refused to look at her. Clary reached out, hesitantly, and touched his hand. 'Sebastian.' She whispered. 'Trust me.'

Still he stayed as immobile and passive as a statue. Clary took this as an encouragement and reached up gently to his waist, feeling along his weapon belt for his stele. He stiffened imperceptibly under her touch and Clary almost drew her hand back, but stopped herself, concentrating her mind on the task. Stele in hand, she approached the faun. With a wave of his hand Sebastian extinguished much of the demon fire, leaving only coils of burning dark flames restricting Madison's wrists and ankles.

Madison had stopped screaming; he leered at Clary when she stopped in front of him. 'Valentine's children,' he breathed. 'Each as cunning as the other. I should have known that beauty never conceal anything but evil.'

'Don't you dare call my sister beautiful,' spat Sebastian, who had soundlessly followed Clary and now stood at her back, looking over her shoulder, 'or evil.'

'Sssshhh,' said Clary, rather soothingly, and bent down.

'Why are you doing this?' whispered Madison, but he was not talking to her. He gazed steadily over her shoulder. 'Why not just kill me?'

'Because,' replied Sebastian, 'My sister wants you to live. And the Morgensterns are united, if nothing else.' Casually he looped an arm around Clary's shoulders.

Under Clary's stele, the Rune was taking shape on the faun's forehead. Delicate curves wounding, drifting, floating off into the distance; smooth, healing and relaxing. _Forget_. By the time she lifted her stele, Madison had slumped onto the floor, in deep sleep.

Sebastian whistled softly. He extinguished the rest of the flames and they left the room quietly, the woven box nestled in Clary's pocket, Sebastian's arm still resting on her shoulder.


	5. Sebastian Speaks

**Hello guys, another chapter out! About the biblical reference, no disrespect is meant. Sebastian is blasphemous but his views do not reflect that of this author :) Thank you for the really encouraging reviews, please keep them coming!**

**All characters owned by Cassandra Clare.**

Clary sat cross-legged on her bed in the dark, listening. It should be around eleven at night. And Sebastian had still not returned.

He had brought Clary home after their encounter today with Madison the faun, and after settling her at home and giving instructions to Amatis, he left again. This time, he did not consent to bring Clary along no matter how hard she begged him, nor even tell her where he was going. Clary could not help but sulk a little for remainder of the day. She ate dinner with Amatis – he was _still_ not back – and after, more to keep Amatis from nagging than from fear of her reporting to Sebastian, she showered and went to bed.

But she did not sleep. Instead, she was up waiting.

Finally, when Amatis had long been snoring in bed, she heard the barely perceptible sound of the front door opening. Soft footsteps padded upstairs. She got up and very quietly opened her door, meeting Sebastian just as he came up the corridor.

If he was surprised, he did not show it. Clary noticed that his hair was mussed up, possibly by the wind, and he reeked of alcohol. Her nose wrinkled in distaste. 'We need to talk,' she said, coldly.

He nodded at her room and they both entered, Clary closing the door behind them. She sat down on the bed while he perched on the table. 'Now, what?' he asked.

'Okay so.' Clary crossed her arms and glared up at him. 'You need to stop treating me like a child.'

He grinned. 'Is that what you've called me into your bedroom at midnight for, sister?'

'Oh _shut up_,' snapped Clary. 'I'm serious. Look, I've helped you so much in getting that pearl or whatever today – I nearly killed myself – and I still don't know what you're planning to do. I have no idea what master plan you're plotting. And after all that, when I expected some sort of an explanation, what did I get? You just ran out again without even telling me where you're going!'

She paused for breath. Sebastian just sat there looking at her, looking slightly amused. 'Actually,' said Clary, 'where did you go?'

'I went to a club,' he said indifferently.

'Knew it. You smell.' said Clary. 'So?'

'So what?'

'So what are you planning to do?'

He gazed at her, considering her question. 'Why should I trust you?'

'Maybe because you were the one who kidnapped me and literally begged me to stay on your side in the first place?' suggested Clary.

'Inconsequential. Maybe I just wanted some company.'

She winced at the meaningful look he gave her. 'Fine. Maybe because I'm your sister.'

'All the more not to be trusted.'

She took a deep breath. 'Maybe because,' she leaned in. 'I've decided to trust _you_.'

Sebastian did not speak for a moment. Then he said, 'The Clave is corrupt and inefficient and caused as much suffering as demons, if not more. You know that as well as I do. I merely want to start a revolution, to destroy the Clave and establish a new order of Shadowhunters.'

'Your Dark Nephilim. Right.'

'Actually, no,' mused Sebastian. 'The Dark Nephilm are my soldiers. It's like how before you can start a war, you must have your troops, and before your troops can fight, you must train them. Drinking from the Infernal Cup is like training, except it condenses the conventionally long and slow process of brainwashing. Becoming Dark Nephilim merely link our minds together and make us more efficient in battle. Though I do admit I was curious about the results of mixing Shadowhunter and demon blood together.'

Clary thought back to Valentine and his obsession with experiments. Had the Morgensterns been born mundane, they would have made brilliant, though probably highly unethical, scientists. 'I get that part. But you're not planning to turn everyone into Dark Nephilim?'

Sebastian said thoughtfully, 'No. Probably not. Only as many as is needed for the revolution.'

Clary shook her head. 'I don't buy it.'

'What?'

'Taking away people's freewill for your own selfish reasons. If you want followers, you should gain them by persuasion, at the very least. Not by force.'

'I do persuade them – I persuade them to drink my blood.' Sebastian leaned in. 'Look, all the Dark Nephilim, with the possible exception of Amatis – I admit _she_ might have been transformed against her will – all drank from the Infernal Cup willingly. They would have been my followers anyway. Amatis was my argument; they were persuaded. I merely helped make them stronger.'

Clary stared at her brother, then collapsed backward onto the bed, dragging a pillow across her face. Why was she even having this conversation with Sebastian? She already knew he was a ruthless, inhumane psychopath. Why was she bothering to know what he was thinking? She should focus on getting away from him.

Sebastian's voice went on, over her head. 'Clary, sometimes in a revolution, the end justifies the means. The people involved may not be the most important – it's the cause. If the cause we're trying to attain is worthy, there have to be sacrifices. And in our case, largely, these sacrifices were made willingly.'

'But what of the cause?' challenged Clary, looking at the ceiling. 'What makes your cause so worthy? How would your system differ from the Clave's?'

'Well, for starters,' he said, 'everyone would get to know the _truth_. Mundanes, Downworlders, Shadowhunters – all will know what really is going on in their world. Shadowhunters would not have to hide in the shadows, nor Downworlders seek refuge in fairytales and horror stories. We're all populating this world together, we should have access to the same rights and the same knowledge.'

'You just want to feel superior to the mundanes and bask in their worship and gratitude.'

'We already feel superior to the mundanes. Haven't you realized? The Shadowhunters are the biggest bunch of bigoted, egotistical idiots ever alive. They look down on mundanes, Downworlders, demons – everyone. Once I take over the Clave, I am going to abolish all laws of segregation and conspiracy. Downworlders would be treated the same as Shadowhunters and mundanes would know the truth. Without secrecy, there was really no need for a Clave nor such strict Clave laws. I think this is fairer for all.'

Clary did not speak; she was not fully convinced but could not as yet think of a proper rebuttal. 'I thought you hate Downworlders.'

'You mistake me for Valentine. Valentine was all about blood and superiority; but I am part warlock and I have a taste of their power. If anything, I _worship_ Downworlders.'

Clary glanced at him. He grinned. 'Okay, I don't. I can't worship anyone but myself. But you get my point.'

'Demons,' she said. 'I remember you once said this new order of Shadowhunter you're creating is in the name of Lilith. So what – are you going to be working with demons as well?'

'As I said, sometimes the end justifies the means. But I only needed Lilith for her blood to create the Dark Nephilim. Don't you see?' he said patiently. 'It's all part of the plan. The Greater Demons – Lilith – they have no part in affairs of this world. But we do, because this is our world, and we have to make things right.'

'Stop,' she said, closing her eyes. 'Let me think.'

Sebastian kept quiet obediently. He didn't hum, or move, or make any sound at all; the silence in the room was so great that she could hear the snores from the next room, the buzz against her eardrums. When she opened her eyes she saw Sebastian staring intently at her.

'It's not right,' she said. 'It is a mandate from Heaven that Shadowhunters must kill demons. It is not right to work with them, to ally with them over our own flesh and blood.'

'Really? And why it is not right?'

'Because – ' Clary sat up, not caring that her mass of red hair was falling haphazardly around her face. 'Because you don't just ignore a mandate from Heaven.'

'And why not?'

'God, Sebastian! Don't act like you don't know,' she said impatiently. 'Won't we – I mean, _you_ – face the wrath of all Heaven or something?'

'This is the problem with most people,' said Sebastian. 'You think that the Heavens are always right, just because everyone who's ever raised disaccord with Heaven has been cast down to Hell. Clary, haven't you wondered how Jace died?'

Her heart skipped a beat, then turned very still. She suddenly felt as if the walls were closing in on her, as if the room was spinning, and she could not breathe. 'I know how he died. I killed him.'

'Wrong,' he said. 'You didn't kill him. The Heavens did.'

* * *

'Tell me you're not telling Maryse about any of this,' said Simon, trotting alongside Isabelle. He didn't actually need to run to keep up with her stride, now that he was a vampire, but he thought it appropriate to maintain some appearance of deference to her, to make his plea more effective. 'Please.'

'Are you just saying this on behalf of Jocelyn? Because I've enough of that bitch,' said Isabelle dismissively, not turning to look at Simon.

He decided to ignore the slight to Clary's mother, apologizing silently to Mrs Fray as he passed the insult over. 'No. It's for myself.'

'Rubbish. You're doing this for Clary.'

'Well, maybe I am,' he spread his hands wide open. 'I can't exactly just stop caring about her, can I? We were – are – best friends. And I know you, too, secretly worry about Clary,' he added.

'I so _do not_. Not when you put your best friend over your girlfriend.'

'If I, Simon Lewis, had ever cross my girlfriend, Isabelle Lightwood, in any way at any time, for any person on earth, I will be struck down by the wrath of heaven right now in Central Park at 7.53pm Sunday,' Simon vowed solemnly. He squinted at the sky. 'Don't see any lightning coming.'

Isabelle chuckled, unwillingly. She pushed him gently. 'You're incurable.'

He grinned. 'You're not telling Maryse.'

She sighed. 'Fine, Simon, if you want to know the truth, I can tell my mother and the Clave what Jocelyn is planning to do and _they won't care_. Do you honestly think they would take this wild goose chase seriously? They have better things to do. Not to mention Jocelyn isn't even on the Council now, Luke's been so inactive he might as well have quit, and the Clave doesn't really want the Downworlders' participation in their affairs in general, meaning the werewolf pack's absence won't be missed. So.'

'Well,' said Simon, mulling over this. 'Mrs Fray would be pleased.'

Isabelle rolled her eyes. 'She can think all she likes. Crazy woman.'

Simon kept carefully quiet. 'So has anyone found Magnus yet?' By _anyone_, they both knew he meant _Alec_.

Isabelle face hardened. 'Nope. Apparently Magnus took some pains to make sure that he couldn't be found.'

Simon knew that ever since their break-up, Alec had been trying every means possible to reach the High Warlock of Brooklyn – except that he had vanished from Brooklyn completely. He had dropped over to Magnus's old apartment almost every day, texted and called him repeatedly, as well as tried less conventional means like fire letters, summoning spells – well, attempts at summoning spells – and ambushing random Downworlders who might know Magnus – all to no avail. Simon and Isabelle knew that Alec meant to express to Magnus exactly how sorry he was to ever dream of ending Magnus's life, but they also knew that Magnus was not one to forgive easily. He did not easily bear grudges, but when he did, it would be for life.

'He's even gone back to find Maureen to see if she had any clue,' said Isabelle. 'Not that she did. But that was insane all the same.'

'Maureen, huh,' said Simon. The little vampire girl, so ruthless that she was almost innocent in her cruelty, had become the head of the New York clan of vampires by killing Camille. Not that Raphael was relinquishing his control over the clan so soon; he vowed to have Maureen killed and she was still at large. Simon had a leaden feeling whenever he heard her name; he was still partly responsible for turning her into a monster, and he had sworn silently to protect her from Raphael if he could. 'I get it from Jordan that the Praetor isn't too happy about her.'

'I would say they're taking it pretty hard,' said Isabelle. 'Serve them right, really. They are too self-important for their own good. Anyway, I'm real worried about Alec.' She looked at Simon in the eye, and her eyes were, for once, afraid. 'I think he might be finally giving up.'

They swung their legs as they sat on a wooden bench together, like little children, watching the play of sunset across the foliage. 'That is _not good,_' said Simon. 'Since weeks ago, he's looked like a walking zombie. I can't imagine how much worse he'll be if he actually gave up.'

'Actually,' said Isabelle suddenly. 'It's not just all this business with Magnus. It's Jace.'

Simon nodded. Jace was Alec's _parabatai_, best friend since youth and his first love. Jace's death must have hurt him the worse out of all the Lightwoods. 'If Clary were here, she's be able to comfort Alec and they can grieve together,' he mused. 'But she's been kidnapped.' He peered at Isabelle. 'You do see why it's so important for Clary to be back, don't you? It's not just this, it's also that –'

'Yes, I do, I'm not an idiot,' said Isabelle impatiently. 'Clary is _family_.'

They listened to the wind whistling through the gleaming leaves of the trees, reflecting rays of a sun which sank ever lower. 'It's just that, she _killed_ Jace,' Isabelle whispered. 'Mom and Dad won't be able to forgive her so easily. They never liked her much anyway, because she kept throwing herself into danger and getting in the way of the Clave.'

'What about you?' asked Simon. 'Do you forgive her?'

Isabelle lowered her face so it was hidden by a swinging curtain of dark hair. 'I don't know.'

* * *

Clary froze; it was as if time itself had slowed down. She was aware of Sebastian staring at her with faint amusement in his eyes as he watched the effect on his words on her. She slapped herself awake. 'Explain,' she demanded.

'You never meant to kill Jace,' said Sebastian. 'And you shouldn't have, if everything was as it should be. But he still died. Why?' He paused. 'The Angel Raziel had lied to Simon. The angel's blade would not take someone away if he belongs more to Hell than Heaven, it was the other way round. The Heaven _wanted_ to claim a life, a life which belonged to Heaven. It was Raziel's way to expressing his wrath.'

'I – I don't – '

'He never did forgive your friends for cheating him with the Mark of Cain, you know,' said Sebastian musingly. 'He could not take away the life of the Daylighter, and he was furious. The angel's wrath cannot be outdone by man's cunning, it can only intensify. He never meant to help you in the first place. The Heaven bends its power to no one.'

'Angels won't lie,' said Clary. 'Raziel promised Simon.'

'You mistake angels with faeries, my dear. Angels are not bound by anything except a commandment of Heaven.'

'And how would you know all this?' Clary demanded suddenly. 'Are you, what, best buddies with the angels or something?'

'I guessed,' said Sebastian calmly. 'I put two and two together, figured that you would never kill Jace of your own accord, and got my conclusion. Of course a little bit of historical knowledge helped. It was not the first time divine will has struck down men, you know. God had sent Angels to destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah because of the vices of the people. You wouldn't still think Angels were merciful to men.'

Clary closed her eyes and fell backwards onto the bed. She was not sure what to feel – it was so tempting to believe in Sebastian, to be relieved that Jace's death was _not her fault_ and to be angry at the divine for taking away the person she loved the most in the world. So tempting, even though intellectually she knew she should never trust Sebastian, who had a gift for twisting every truth there was into lies. And she was afraid of what she would feel, what she would do, if she really trusted Sebastian and turned her power against what is commonly believed to be good. She was afraid of the darkness in her, the anger and the misery, that threatened to swallow her whole.

But she was _so tired_ of the guilt and blame, even though, now she saw in great clarity, that she never did anything wrong. She always did what she felt was right. And she was tired of never believing in Sebastian, every single time.

Clary kept her eyes shut as she felt Sebastian spreading the blanket over her, tucking her in like a little child. 'Well, well,' he said. 'I guess I'll leave you to sleep over it. Goodnight.'

She kept her eyes close and her face immobile even as she felt Sebastian's lips lingered on her forehead with the goodnight kiss. But when Sebastian turned off the light, she said, 'Sebastian?'

'Hm?'

'Aren't you afraid you'll get struck by lightning one of these days?'

She heard Sebastian chuckled silently. 'My dear sister, if everyone evil were to be struck down by lightning, there would be no hell. I think I'll make it yet.'


	6. Preparation

**Hello guys! Sorry for the long wait and the relatively short chapter :( I'm in the midst of having some exams so I might not be able to update as soon as I want to! Thanks for all the support, the reviews are really encouraging :D Thank you all so so much! ****I hope you'll continue to enjoy my story!**

**All characters belong to Cassandra Clare.**

Magnus sighed as he relaxed in his favourite Japanese hot spring overlooking the lights of the city Atami, sipping a pear margarita cocktail topped with a cherry. _This is life_, he told himself, trying to disregard the fact that he had spent every single day of the past two weeks dunking himself in every hot spring in Japan he could find – hardly a way to pass time for a High Warlock, in view of the coming war. But then again, he had all the time in the world.

_Too much time. _His thoughts turned inevitably to Alec, the pretty blue-eyed boy he had broken up with precisely because he had been one of the few mortal beings who understood how tiresome a thing timelessness was for an immortal warlock. He knew, deep down, that what Alec did was understandable, reasonable even – after all, in the end he had decided against betraying him. He was just tempted.

Heck, if he, Magnus, were in Alec's shoes, he would probably want to do the same.

But his pride could not allow himself to be so debased by a mere mortal. The thought that a Shadowhunter, a mere boy, nearly had the power to destroy him, and that he nearly let him do it, repulsed him to the core. That he had stood by and watched Alec visit Camille for so long, even idly wishing that this would be the way for his long life to end, not sacrificed in battle as befits a warlock but strangled with love, now made him deeply disgusted with himself. Not to mention how hurt he was that Alec had never trusted him, after all this while.

Since Alec never gave him trust, he had sworn that he would never trust Alexander Lightwood again, ever in his life.

He knew that Alec was trying to reach him. He put up wards around himself to fend off these attempts, but he watched the incoming letters and messages eagerly all the same. He could not help himself. Love made one weak – he had not stopped loving.

He told himself that he was touring East Asia because he wanted to lie low from the imminent war (and not because he heard that hot spring water had healing powers and he was nursing a broken heart) – which was also why he took care that nothing of magical or seraphic or demonic associations could reach him. Yet that morning, he was surprised.

Magnus turned the crisp white envelope over and over in his hand. On it, a name was written in dark red, in the curly, casual handwriting that he recognized to be Clary's – _Sebastian Morgenstern._

* * *

'Faster,' said Sebastian, idly tossing a knife into the air.

Clary wiped sweat off her brow. 'I'm _trying_,' she hissed through her teeth. She had spent the better part of the morning hurling knives at a target board, while her brother had stood by and supposedly instructed her – supposedly, because for all the training he had had, Sebastian did not seem a very good coach. All he seemed interested in saying that morning comprised of two or less syllables, such as 'faster', 'more force', or 'you suck'.

'Try harder,' said Sebastian. 'Look.' He caught the knife he was tossing and swiftly hurled his arm forward. The knife flew in a graceful arc through the air, striking the heart of the target with a resounding thud. 'You have to put your weight forward, if your arm is not strong enough. And you need to do that since you're so small,' he said.

Clary stared at him. 'Geez, thanks,' she said. 'You know what? That might have come in really useful if you said it half an hour earlier.'

He shrugged. 'I wanted you to train up your arm muscles. God knows, you're such a midget. If I left you for even a second out there, you'll probably be gobbled up by a Dahak demon.'

Clary bit back a sharp retort. After all, she was the one who demanded to accompany Sebastian on his missions in future. The decision was not too tough; she was bored to death at home, curious to find out what her brother was up to, and, though she did not want to admit this to herself, rather excited by the plans of Sebastian. Whatever he was up to next, it would involve meeting more magical creatures like the faun, or the mermaids.

There was another motive, which she could not tell Sebastian but she secretly swore to try her best to achieve. To save lives. She knew if anyone had a morsel of power over the devil was her brother, it was her. With her Runes and her persuasion, she could stop Sebastian from killing more innocent people, like Madison.

To her demands, Sebastian had reluctantly agreed. 'Since we managed to get hold of both pearls in the end, I suppose there is no harm in letting you go to the Mermaid Court as well,' he said, regarding her with narrowed eyes. 'However, it would be extremely dangerous. Mermaids are craftier, more alluring than faeries. Their court is easily a death trap. You must _train_.'

'Alright, ten more hits on that target and we'll move on to something else,' said Sebastian.

'Lunch?' asked Clary hopefully.

'You wish.'

She scowled and picked up the knife again. Sebastian stood at the side and watched. His thoughts flew to the breakfast table that morning, when Clary had asked to accompany him out from then on. To be his partner in crime, to put it crudely. He had pretended to deliberate, but his heart gave a sudden, strange leap of joy. For the past few days, after the night he had revealed his plans to Clary, he had watched her carefully, afraid of what he might see in her eyes – disgust, contempt, or the chill which so often appeared when she decided to shut him out. It felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off his chest, and he didn't even know he had been weighed down breathless until it was gone.

She might try to escape, he decided. But she might also be trying to trust him. It was a chance he would take.

Clary hung her exhausted arm down for a momentary rest. The past five throws had been far from the target, and she didn't feel as if she could continue. She glanced sideward at Sebastian, hoping he would let her rest – but he was not there. Then she felt a cool breath on her neck. 'Need some help, huh?'

'Sebastian!' Clary nearly screamed. 'Can you _not_ sneak up on me like that?'

'Sorry,' said Sebastian carelessly. 'Look, now I'll be showing you how to throw perfectly. Watch and feel.'

He put his hand on the small of her back. She jerked suddenly, involuntarily, at his touch. Through her wet sweatshirt, she could feel clearly every single one of his long, dexterous fingers, the imprint of the light fingertips meant to dance on a piano keyboard as they traveled up her spine, prodding her to stand upright, and rested finally against her shoulder blades. The memory of these fingers when they had last touched her made her breath catch in her throat.

'Stop slouching,' growled Sebastian against her ear.

She pulled back her shoulders sharply. With his other hand Sebastian now supported her right wrist, lifting her arm up so that it stretched out at right angles in front of her. His arm pressed against hers, so she could feel the ripple of his muscles, lean and hard, the sharp edges of his bones. His foot nudged her left foot, pushing it forward so she stood in the stance of the offensive; an innocent move enough, but it made her nearly lunged to the floor.

Clearly the close presence of her brother was not helping her concentration.

Sebastian sighed. With a sharp jerk, he pulled her arm back and then thrust it forward, making a smooth arc through the air, propelling the knife out of her hand. Clary watched as the knife sailed through the air and struck its target straight and true. It was beautiful, all the more so because it was so effortless; the knife had flew as if of its own will, and sank into the board like it was butter. It had not been her, she knew. It was Sebastian, lending her strength.

'Wow,' she said, not entirely insincere.

'See?' Sebastian said, a tinge of a smile in his voice. 'That wasn't so hard, was it?'

She turned towards him and found him smiling down at her. She thought idly that the Jonanthan Morgenstern she knew had never used to smile, at all, except for the short period of time when he was pretending to be Sebastian Verlac. She stared at the light smiling creases on his face and wondered if he had changed, and when, and how.

They were far too close for her comfort.

Her face was within centimeters of his, and just for the few seconds before they could react, each stared into the other's eyes. To Clary, his were dark tunnels, threatening to suck her in. She did not know that Sebastian was thinking the same of her green eyes, that they were like bottomless lakes of the clearest crystal green shade, inviting him to fall.

He leant in and touched his lips against hers.

She thought she must have been gaping slightly when he kissed her, because somehow her mouth was open and he was kissing her deeper, deeper, his hands tightening on her waist. His mouth moves slowly on hers, warm and slightly bruising with his force, but not entirely unpleasantly. And she remained motionless, too shocked to respond. Too shocked by her own reaction – that she had not instinctively pushed him away. She tried to remember what it was not repulsed her so much, but failed. It was all she could do to resist falling.

He was clutching her too hard - she made a small, choking noise – and it was over, just as suddenly as how it had started. One moment they were kissing, his hands tangled in her shirt, and the next moment he had sprung away from her, as if she were a trap he had not meant to fall into. Across an arm's length, they stared at each other, both panting slightly. Clary realized her mouth was still slightly agape, in shock, and she snapped it shut.

Without a word, he turned and left the training room. It was as though, Clary thought as the door swung shut behind him, nothing had happened at all.

* * *

'Who's there?' said Madison grumpily, rubbing his eyes as he pulled the door open. 'It's only seven in the morning. A man needs his sleep…'

'Drop the pretense, Madison,' the hooded figure in front of him said. Pale hands with long, slender fingers dropped the hood; it was a woman, with fiery red hair and narrowed green eyes. 'We both know you're not a man.'

His mouth dropped. '_Shadowhunter_,' he hissed. 'Who are you?'

'That does not matter. I have come with a query.' The woman reached inside her robes and took out a folded piece of parchment. Madison squinted in the faint light to make out a drawing, minutely detailed, of two children. One of a girl with similar fiery red hair as the woman, laughing. The other, of a boy with a shining cap of silver hair, and an arrogant smirk. 'Have you seen these two people before?' she asked. 'They are my children.'


	7. The Mermaid Court

**Hi everyone! Sorry for the long wait - here's the next chapter! :)) Thanks again for all the reviews, I'm really glad you're enjoying my story! alright, without further ado..**

**All characters belong to Cassandra Clare.**

'So?' asked Luke, raising an inquiring eyebrow as Jocelyn stepped into the dingy café opposite of Madison's place, where he, Simon, Maia and Jordan had been waiting.

They had come all the way to London, under Jocelyn's intuition that Sebastian might be looking for something there. Simon had come because, well, because it was Clary, and Clary was closer than family. Maia had come as an assistant to Luke, who thought there might be need to raise the help of local wolf packs and it would be handy to have another werewolf around; Maia herself was worried for Clary as well. Jordan had come because technically he was still Simon's protector, and privately he wanted to be with Maia, wherever she went.

'No,' Jocelyn shook her head; she motioned for a cup of coffee. 'Madison hadn't seen them; he didn't recognize them at all.'

The table was silent. 'No offense, Mrs Fray,' said Jordan finally. 'But what would Sebastian want from that place –' he nodded at across the road '– again?'

Maia and Simon exchanged a look. On the trip Jocelyn mostly discussed plans with Luke, with a mother's instinctive mistrust of teenagers. This group of teenagers especially she considered certifiably insane, given the events of the past month which included them helping Clary to venture alone to a multi-dimensional pocket and attempting to raise a demon and an angel. Simon and Maia dealt well with the adults' misgivings, but Jordan was less tolerant.

'The black pearls, Tears of Adam,' it was not Jocelyn who spoke, but Luke. 'The key to the entrance of a mermaid court.'

'The merpeople,' said Jocelyn. 'Are one of the most ancient and thus most powerful people in the world. What's more, they are disillusioned enough with the Clave to be of great use to Sebastian.'

Maia clinked her spoon against the coffee cup. 'Who are they, exactly?' she mused. 'They're not considered one of the four families of Downworlders, the Clave didn't sign the Accords with them…'

'Correct,' said Luke. He sighed. 'About a hundred years ago, the Clave ruled some members of our world – the non-mundane world, so as to speak – to be too affiliated with the demons to even be considered Downworlders. You have to be aware, of course, that the term "Downworlders" was coined by the Clave itself in an attempt to categorise the many races of non-mundane creatures that exist. Another mistake made by the Clave, in my opinion.'

'A mistake as ancient as Alicante itself,' said Jocelyn sharply. 'History has proven the Clave right, hasn't it? The Underworlders have been nothing but trouble.'

'The Underworlders?' said Simon. 'That's some creative terminology.'

'The merpeople, the Unseelie Court, the ogres, the sphinxes – oh, I don't even know what else,' said Jocelyn. 'These are dark forces that have been suppressed by the Clave over the ages. The numbers of these races have been dwindling due to the Clave's efforts. After all, they're considered almost demons. I expect Sebastian would want to exploit whatever of them that is left.'

'We could ask the Clave to send reinforcements to clamp down on them, once and for all,' suggested Jordan.

Luke shook his head. 'Everything in its time. If all of these forces were united in rebellion, it could turn out to be worse for the Clave.'

'Biologically the merpeople are a member of the fey, I would think,' said Jocelyn musingly. 'Offspring of demons and angels. Particularly powerful fish demons, actually. Most of the merpeople still dwell in the waters of populated regions, invisible to mundane, of course.'

'We saw them in the East River in New York,' remembered Simon suddenly.

'Look, why don't we try to find Sebastian by ambushing near the mermaid court instead?' said Maia. 'He's sure to go there. It's just a matter of time.'

'Ah, but there are many of the mermaid courts, and as many of mermen courts,' said Luke. 'The Clave forced the original court to disband, and dispersed them in waters across the world. They are forbidden to live in the open sea for fear that they would increase in numbers and build too powerful a submarine empire.'

'We could look for the most powerful court there is, then,' said Simon. 'Look, if I were Sebastian, I would go to where the original ruler is. Because I would want all merpeople to be united and that can only happen under a recognized ruler.'

Luke looked at Jocelyn. 'That is true,' he said slowly. 'But we're not sure if they're even after the merpeople yet.'

'Something was strange when I talked to Madison today,' said Jocelyn. 'When I asked him about the pearls, he didn't seem to have them in his possession at all. Have never had them, in fact.'

The other faces were blank. 'So….?'

'It's an established fact among the Downworlders that Madison the Faun had Tears of Adam,' said Luke quietly. 'News spread, and he was – well, let's just say he wasn't ashamed of the fact. So if he denies ever having them, either he was telling a very clumsy lie that would serve no purpose, or…'

'Or something is wrong, and he no longer had them,' finished Jocelyn.

'You're right,' said Luke, turning to Simon. 'Let's wait for Sebastian at the mermaid court of Muirgen.'

* * *

Clary stood beside Sebastian as they looked over the swirling waves of the Black Sea. Both of them were clad in full Shadowhunter gear, with loaded weapon belts under a long black robe and a full hood pulled low over their faces. They stood a shoulder-width apart, a distance Clary liked; it was far enough that she could fend for herself independently, and not so far that they could not look out for each other. From a distance they looked ominous, like two gods of death.

'So here are the mermaids,' whispered Clary. Sebastian ignored her. She had been unable to suppress her excitement that morning; after all she had grown up with stories of little mermaids and underground palaces. The mermaid court seemed to her in all possibility grandiose and dangerous beyond all imagination.

Sebastian had told her to shut up if she could not talk with blabbering. 'We're there as negotiators, not some brainless fan girls of fairytales.' Clary had toned down on her display of excitement ever since.

Both of them clutched a dark, smooth pearl the size of a marble in their fist. 'Ready,' said Sebastian. He stalked ahead and walked steadily into the water. Clary followed.

Sebastian had told her the theory of it. Basically, as long as their skin was in contact with the black pearls, they would be able to breathe under water. But she did not know what to expect. All seemed normal as they waded in and ice-cold water lapped around their ankles, swirled around their waists, encircled their chests. When the water submerged their heads, however, Clary held her breath from habit, but remembering what Sebastian said let go of her breath cautiously. Then she took a deep breath.

Water gushed into her lungs, but she did not choke. On breathing out, all the water rushed out again and she felt the beat of her respiratory system functioning exhilaratingly well as if water were air. The taste of water in her lungs, cold and clear, was even more delicious than fresh mountain air. She took several more deep breaths.

Sebastian turned around, looking slightly amused. 'Stop breathing so loud, little sis,' he said, his voice seeming to waver slightly as sounds do underwater, but otherwise perfectly normal. Clary noticed that his robes and hood, too, were settled obediently on his body and not floating around as would be expected in water. In fact, as they walked deeper and deeper underwater, she reflected that it was amazing they themselves were not floating at all. It was as if all the buoyancy of the water was gone, as if they were natives to the underwater world.

'Where are we going?' she asked.

'Just keep walking forward, they'll have to come out to welcome us,' said Sebastian drily.

As they walked further in, the ground beneath their feet turned from the pale sand of the beach to a darker shade of some sort of underwater soil. Upon this soil strange vegetation grew, seaweeds of a multitude of colours, swaying in the current, sea-flowers in bloom that opened and closed and opened again. They seemed to be walking in some sort of underwater forest. Clary watched, wide-eyed, the anemone and seashells and small fishes with exotic patterns, going about their business. Almost directly beside the two of them, a strange little neon yellow fish seemed to peek from the folds of the seaweed; suddenly it flashed, and was gone.

Clary poked Sebastian. 'Did you see that?'

'Of course I did,' he said. 'Congratulations, you have seen your first mermaid in close proximity. Well, part of her, to be exact.'

'That – that was a mermaid's eye?' Clary realized suddenly that it must have been a little mermaid who peeked at them, blinked, and ran away to spread the news. 'How cute!'

'Don't fool yourself,' said Sebastian in a low voice. 'Mermaids are akin to the faeries, but they are ten times more cunning and dangerous. Have you heard the story of the Sirens?'

'No – wait, isn't it the one where some monster lures sailors to jump off their ship and drown?'

'Somewhat. The Sirens were beautiful female creatures who lured sailors with their enchanting music to sail towards them, only to be shipwrecked on their rocky island nearby. Those were mermaids.'

Clary could not suppress a shudder; at the same time she was aware of more neon-coloured flashing little fishes, yellow and pink and cyan, peeking out from the vegetation around them. 'What do they want with the sailors?'

Sebastian laughed soundlessly. 'Essentially what vampires want with their prey. But a bit more. Which is why,' he added. 'Mermaid music is lethal. It can make you lose your senses.'

Clary didn't see how she was going to keep herself from hearing music if the mermaids were really to play it, seeing that already they were surrounded by them. Mermaids who looked for the most part like children or teenagers, not bothering to hide themselves now, were staring outright at them from behind clumps of seaweeds.

Their faces were delicately shaped and had the same kind of disturbing, unearthly beauty as faeries that made one uncomfortable calling them beautiful, even though there was no reason not to. From their necks protruded the sharp edges of gills, translucent and coral-like in the light. Their upper bodies of women were wrapped with seaweed-like material, their slender waists tapered off to tails of magnificent shades that shimmered like gems. Maybe it was the light, but their skin looked slightly tinged with green.

It was rather eerie, walking past such a silent audience, but Sebastian stalked past them without a sideward glance, as if he had walked past rows of sparsely clad staring women all his life. Which, Clary reflected, might not be impossible.

Up ahead, a graceful figure was swimming towards them. An older mermaid with a tail that looked as if it were embedded with rubies, wearing a ring of pink coral on her head. 'Guests,' she said, her voice deep and husky like brown honey, 'to what do we owe the honour of your visit?'

'Finally,' said Sebastian airily. 'Your reception was rather slow. I have business with the Queen.'

The mermaid raised an eyebrow. 'Queen Muirgen does not entertain Shadowhunters, or any other sheltered under the laws of the Clave.'

Sebastian raised his hand; the glitter dark pearl in his palm seemed to draw a gasp from the audience all around them. There was no sound of the intake of breath but a quickened rush of water bespoke their amazement. 'I am guaranteed entrance to your court. Surely you did not think I would venture so far without the assurance of meeting your Queen. Now, for self-introduction,' he said, throwing back his hood to reveal his shining cap of white-blonde hair. 'I am Sebastian Morgenstern, and this is my sister Clarissa. We are of Shadowhunter blood, but we are enemies of the Clave.'

Clary, following Sebastian's lead, drew back her hood as well. The mermaid looked at them and nodded, rather unwillingly. 'You may call me Nerissa. Alright, then. Follow me.'

She turned and surged ahead with a powerful swish of her tail. Sebastian and Clary had to half-trot to follow. They were gradually moving out of the underwater forest now and the vegetation was less dense, but more and more mermaids had come to congregate around the newcomers. These mermaids, though older than those before, were still youthful, looking as though in their twenties. Clary remembered with a pang Magnus, who always looked no older than thirty; the merpeople must be immortal as well. And all of them remained eerily, resolutely silent.

She noticed something else, too. 'Sebastian,' she drew closer to him and whispered, so that her words would not be carried by the current to the surrounding mermaids. 'They are all staring at _you_.'

Sebastian snickered. 'Jealous that I'm always the centre of attention?'

'Stop that. No, I mean, not in a good way.'

He continued to smirk, but his tone is now grim. 'Because I have more of something than you.'

'What?'

'Testosterone.'

'This way, please,' Nerissa turned and gracefully gestured them into an opening in a line of intertwined coral-like structure. Behind this was a wide hexagonal space, enclosed by similar coral-like walls on all sides, cleared except for a large couch at one end of the space. The couch looked carved out of ancient ivory, intriguingly patterned and inlaid with pearls of all shapes and shades. On the couch sat a mermaid with ink-black hair and a tail black and sleek as glittering wet coals. Other mermaids stood around in the hexagonal court, but all were silent when Sebastian and Clary were led in. Heads were turned and eyes focused on the newcomers, or more specifically, on Sebastian.

'Queen,' said Nerissa, inclining her head towards the mermaid on the throne, who Clary assumed to be Queen Muirgen. 'These Shadowhunters claimed to be enemies of the Clave. They were looking for you.'

'I'm Sebastian Morgenstern,' said Sebastian repeating the introduction. 'My sister, Clarissa.'

'Morgenstern,' said the Queen musingly. Clary nearly started when she heard her voice. It was a very pleasant alto, musical without effort, yet with an almost magnetic undercurrent that made one perked up his ears. It reminded one a graceful black panther, and pain of its bite. 'I remember that name. Was there not a Valentine Morgenstern who tried to overturn the Clave?'

'My father,' said Sebastian, inclining his head.

'Ah,' Muirgen said. 'And now you two are continuing his business.' She waved her hand. 'I apologise, I cannot have anything to do with Valentine's children. He sought to glorify the Shadowhunter race. We the merpeople, on the other hand, have been oppressed by your race throughout the centuries.'

'We have very different goals from our father,' said Sebastian, smoothly. 'In only one aspect we are similar: to overturn the ruling Clave. Yet the similarity ends there. Valentine wanted superiority of the Shadowhunters; we want equality. For you, Mermaid Queen,' he leant in. 'This war can mean liberation.'

The Queen regarded Sebastian closely while reclining lazily on the couch, but Clary could tell from the movement of her eye that she was paying attention. 'Shadowhunter,' she said. 'I have lived for two thousand over years, and you are a mere boy. If no one could liberate my race in all my lifetime, what makes you think you can?'

'Because no one has tried to,' replied Sebastian. 'There has never been one unified attempt, by all Underworlders and Downworlders, together, to overturn the Clave. And also because I have within my means some weapons that will guarantee us success?'

'Like what?'

'Like Lilith, the mother of all demons, whose blood flows in my veins.'

Muirgen raised an eyebrow, and then clapped her hands and laughed. Her laughter sent shivers down Clary's spine; the sound of it seemed to reverberate through her skull. 'You are prepared to raise demons to win,' she said. 'This will be interesting.'

Sebastian smiled. 'Thank you. So we have your word?'

'Not so fast,' she smiled too. 'You have been right, us Underworlders have never tried to take down the Clave together, much injustice as it has done us. But that is because of one reason: we hate each other, more than we hate the Clave.' She smiled even wider. 'We the merpeople will have nothing to do with the Unseelie Court – or the Seelie Court, for that matter – or the water nymphs. _Never_.' She gestured at Nerissa. 'You may go.'

Nerissa moved to take them away, but Sebastian looked steadily at Muirgen and said, 'Mermaid Queen. We did not come here today to beg a favour of you. Without you, we have just as much power at hand. We have come to _grant_ you a favour.'

Muirgen had started laughing before Sebastian had finished; the sound pained Clary to the core; she wished Sebastian would stop making her laugh. 'Oh really? What favour can we possibly have of you, Shadowhunter?'

'You are dying out,' he said calmly. 'I know what the Clave had done to you. It is said in the Shadowhunter textbooks that you were disbanded, but history was written by the winners. In reality, the Clave forcibly separated the mermaids and the mermen. They kept up the wards, so you can never meet. Or reproduce.' He paused. 'You are immortal, but the Clave has been killing your members. Slowly, steadily, there will be no more merpeople in the world. Consider answering to the extinction of your race, Muirgen.'

He turned to follow Nerissa, who had been pulling him away, but who now stood rooted to the spot. The Mermaid Queen's lips, which had been unpleasantly frozen in its smile by Sebastian's words, curled again in sweet, sweet delight. 'Wait a moment, boy,' she said. 'I believe we have an agreement.'

Sebastian's eyes met hers, coal-black against coal-black. 'You agree to join us.'

'You're right. It seems a revolution against our common enemy weighs greater than our individual grudges and feuds.'

'If you join us,' said Sebastian. 'I can guarantee you will never meet with any creature you do not want to see. If you want, we will be the only people you come into contact with.'

'Oh, that sounds wonderful,' Muirgen used her fingers to twirl her long, wavy, coal-dark hair. Something in the motion of her fingers reminded Clary of a serpent savouring its prey; she was suddenly aware that something was not right. She looked desperately at Sebastian, trying to warn him, but he was not looking at her.

'We need a promise, then. A vow.' He said, looking directly at Muirgen.

'That will be just as well,' she smiled. 'But before that – we the mermaids never let our guests go without treating them properly. Ladies, would you please?'

And suddenly, all around them, rang out music.


	8. Enchantment and Acquiescence

**Hello everyone! Here comes another chapter :) Each review/following/fave makes my heart very warm inside hahaha :3 thank you so much!**

**Keep the reviews coming in!**

**All characters belong to Cassandra Clare.**

Clary did not at first realize what it was. It felt as if tiny streams of warm current were trickling towards her, folding in on themselves and swelling and expanding, and finally enveloping her in their delight and their magnificence. Then she realized with a shock that these were sounds. Or to be more specific, voices.

The mermaids who were in the Court and who had hitherto been listening in silently on their negotiations with the Queen, now had opened their mouths in unison, and music streamed out. It was like listening to a choir, with sopranos like the twinkling of otherworldly bells or stars, the altos slow-moving waters of a still lake, and a multitude of tones in between like the burst of colours of the Northern Lights. It was utterly unsettling and utterly beautiful, and gave Clary the feeling that she was going to be sick.

_Mermaid music is lethal. _Clary hastily covered her ears, but sounds still seeped into her consciousness, carried by the water of the sea which permeated all defenses. Already she felt herself getting dizzy, the contents of her stomach threatening to tumble out. She thought despairingly that it was too late.

And realized, with wonder, that she could still think.

It was true. Rapidly Clary willed herself to remember details about her birth, her family, the death date of Queen Victoria, the number of atoms in a mole. Whatever her stomach was feeling, her faculties of thought were as lucid as ever.

_They make you lose your senses._ Well, as far as she was concerned that was not happening. She was at a loss as to why, until out of a corner of her eye she saw Sebastian moving slowly, as if in a trance, towards the mermaids. Her heart caught in her throat. She could not see his face, but his hands were hanging limply and his head was drooping.

Clary's heart started hammering in her chest. She was not affected by the mermaid music because she was not the target; maybe no female has been. But _Sebastian –_

'SEBASTIAN!' screamed Clary, pushing water out of her lungs with as much force as she could, hoping against hope that her voice would bring him back to consciousness. 'SEBASTIAN! JONATHAN CHRISTOPHER MORGENSTERN!' She took off running towards his retreating figure, but somehow lost her balance and the next thing she knew her face was in the mud.

Nerissa had trapped her ankle with a thin band of seaweed-like substance and was now proceeding nimbly to tie her hands and feet together with the same material. 'Make sure she's secure,' the lazy, magnetic voice of the Queen ordered. Clary turned around to glare at her.

'Let go of me,' she said through gritted teeth. 'And my brother.'

'I am afraid I would not be able to do either,' said Queen Muirgen, smiling; Clary noticed for the first time that her teeth were not human, but sharp and spiky like carnivorous fish. 'Now, if you are a good sister, surely you will not begrudge your dear brother a little fun.'

Clary whipped her head around to see Sebastian moving further and further away from her, towards the mermaids who were singing, singing their venomous song. She saw the greed and the delight in their eyes as they watched the boy walking towards them, completely entranced, his mouth slightly opened as if awed. Tears welled up unbidden in Clary's eyes. She had never seen Sebastian so powerless. Mentally she kicked him; what was he thinking to put himself – to put the both of them – in such danger?

She could scream, but what was the use? He would not be able to hear her. With effort Clary blinked her tears away and let them melt away unseen into the salty sea water. Time was running out. Her only chance was with the Queen.

'Queen Muirgen,' she said, with a measured haughtiness that she did not feel. _I am a Morgenstern. I am a Morgenstern._ 'You do not want to thus ill-treat your guest. Indeed, I cannot care less what it pleases you to do to my brother. Untie me.'

The Queen turned her attention towards Clary; it was as if she was looking at her for the first time. 'Not quite the little girl you seem to be, huh?' she said, bemused. 'For a moment I was wondering why a fine young man like your brother would let you tag along with him. Forgive me, you seemed quite useless.'

'I do not tend to speak when my brother is speaking,' said Clary deliberately. 'I make myself useful only when necessary.'

The Queen's coal-black eyes observed her coolly for a moment, her ageless face emotionless. 'Let her go,' she said to Nerissa, who silently and obediently loosened Clary's tie. Clary stood up and smoothed her robes, looking directly into the mermaid queen's eyes the whole time.

'You have heard what we are here to offer,' she said.

Muirgen laughed. 'Children's play,' she said. 'Do you really think we would take you seriously? The hold of the Clave has been for thousands of years, and would always be. Your brother there has a glib tongue, but I have seen and heard many a smooth talker in my time. He is not enough to persuade me.'

'You would not come with us, then let us go alone,' said Clary with a forced nonchalance. 'We are sorry that we disturbed your peace. Why are you taking Sebastian?'

'You do not think I could deny my sisters a little fun,' said Muirgen, a gleam in her eyes. 'You heard Sebastian. Because of our folly in the early days of the world, we are never to see our male counterparts ever again. The ban has forced an unspoken law on our part: any visitor to our court, for whatever purpose, will be taken. The males for ourselves, the females to feed our pet fish.' She shrugged. 'We only inflict onto the world a small portion of the misery it has inflicted on us.'

'Even the visitors which hold the key to releasing you from your own misery,' said Clary, hiding her horror.

Muirgen narrowed her eyes. 'Do not bore me with the same topic, Shadowhunter. You can do nothing for us.'

'Do not call me a Shadowhunter,' said Clary in a low voice. 'Because I am more than one. So is Sebastian. I know you would not listen, so I will show you.'

Swiftly Clary whipped around. Sebastian is now walking towards the far corner of the court, in the company of a dozen colourful mermaids who had arranged themselves around him, their singing still holding him spellbound. Clary took hold of her stele and drew, as hard as she could, in the water in front of her the Rune that had been burning itself at the back of her eyes in the past few minutes, ever since the mermaids' singing had made her head pulse and her stomach churn –

_Silence_.

The completed Rune drawn with all her force seemed to etch into the water itself. It burned brightly for a moment and, vibrating violently, it melted away, gold dispersing in the dark seawater. As the Rune faded, so did the music. A blessed silence fell over the Mermaid Court as completely as a blanket of snow.

Clary turned around to see Queen Muirgen mouth opened in horror, and eyes black with rage. 'What did you do?_'_ she hissed, and venom seemed to spread to Clary through her voice. '_How dare you. How dare –'_

'How dare _you_,' replied a voice carelessly, its tone dark and dangerous. It was the voice that Clary had wanted to hear the most in the world. Well, at that moment, anyway. Without turning she knew that Sebastian was himself again, and what's more, he was furious.

His light footsteps approached Clary and halted at her back. 'Sebastian,' she said, hiding her immense relief and relishing the priceless look on Muirgen's face. 'We missed you.'

Sebastian chortled shortly. 'Did we?' he said softly, looking at Muirgen, and Clary could tell by her involuntary recoil that Muirgen saw the devil through his eyes. All pretense of courtesy was dropped now. In a flash Sebastian had his blade in hand.

'You do not want to kill me, Sebastian Morgenstern,' Muirgen said. 'You forget you are in my territory.'

'No,' he agreed. 'But I can, and I will, make you go through hell unless you sign your agreement to help us. You are strong, but you have seen my sister. We can make you suffer yet.'

Muirgen looked at him. 'You planned to do this all along, didn't you, if I hadn't been persuaded by you? Do you gain all your allies this way, young man?'

'Most of them prefer to be persuaded,' Sebastian grinned, quietly advancing on Muirgen. 'Make the right choice, queen.'

She stared at him a moment, and then turned her gaze to Clary, and then laughed. It was not the twinkling sound of amusement that had made Clary's head ache like the previous times. This laugh was one of self-mock, and defeat, and acquiescence.

'You are mere children, the two of you,' she said. 'Yet you have given me more hope for the survival of my people, than any other had in my lifetime. I do not think even you realize your own full potential. In you there might yet be the power to move heaven and hell.' She laughed again. 'I never thought I would see myself going to war again in all my days,' she said. 'You'd think a two-thousand-and-thirty-one year-old is too old to fight. But fate seems to plot against me.'

'Not too old, my queen,' said Clary. 'Two thousand years is still rather young in the scope of eternity.'

'You have lived your two thousand years in misery,' said Sebastian. 'Clary is right; you have an eternity ahead of you. Make it worthwhile.'

Muirgen turned to the other mermaids in the court, who was once again as silent as they had been before. Clary was not sure if the effect of the Rune was still on them, or if they were just used to keeping quiet when they could not use their voices as a weapon. 'My court,' she addressed the court at large. 'You agree with me. I pray to Lord Poseidon, God of all Ocean, that this war will bring us more happiness than suffering.' She turned to Nerissa. 'Bring me the dagger.'

It was brought: glinting silver as if coated with fish scales, curiously shaped and curved at the sharp end. Queen Muirgen extended her hand and unflinchingly brought down the dagger on her palm. Silvery-blue liquid trickled out that shimmered in the underwater light.

'I give you the Oath of Blood,' she said, handing the dagger to Sebastian, who accordingly brought it down across his palm as well. Blood so dark it was almost black gushed out, his unique blood of the demon mixed with that of the Shadowhunter. They brought their hands together.

'That is done, then,' smiled Sebastian, 'Queen Muirgen, if you could, I would need you to gather all merpeople around the world for the incoming war. They will all follow you, am I right?'

'Yes,' she answered simply. 'I have been their ruler in the previous war. I will lead them again.'

'If all is well, I will contact you in time.' He inclined his head. 'We take our leave, then.'

* * *

When the two emerged out of water the moon was shining bright, its reflection shimmering in the pitch dark waters that concealed another world. Clary shivered; the pearl had not stopped her from getting soaked, and it was cold out. She did not realize they had gone for so long.

'Let's go,' said Sebastian, tugging on her arm. His tone was cool, yet when she turned to him his eyes were warm. 'If we're quick, we'll make it home in time for supper.'

They walked a while in silence. 'And also,' said Sebastian, a little stiffly, 'I suppose I should thank you. For today. You saved me from some hell lot of humiliation.'

'Humiliation?' said Clary incredulously. 'You mean I saved your ass. You would have been made some sort of male concubine for the rest of your life.'

He grinned. He had been holding her wrist still and now he grasped it a little more firmly. 'That would never happen. I'd get myself out some way or another.'

'Oh, really? Have you even seen yourself when you've been enchanted? Your mouth was hanging open, like this-' she gave a crude imitation '- You looked so stupid I was surprised you didn't trip over yourself.'

'I looked that on purpose,' he confided with a smirk. 'I didn't want to impress the mermaids too much.'

Clary had to laugh. 'But what were you thinking, honestly,' she said. 'You knew the amount of risk we were running, right? And still you went straight into the Mermaid Court like it's nobody's business. And dragged me along without even telling me _anything_, I might add.'

'I knew it was dangerous for me,' Sebastian shrugged. 'I didn't know they had resorted to turning female non-mermaids into fish food; didn't come across that in my research. Still. It was a risk worth taking, for the greater cause.' He glanced at her. 'Anyway, I took you as a precaution, and it worked, didn't it? You didn't let anything happen to me.'

'Right,' muttered Clary. 'And I nearly got turned into _fish food –'_

They trudged through the jungle bordering the beach, silent at this time of the night except for the hum of insects and the occasional hoot of an owl. The house was a little inland from the coast. The two walked side by side, Sebastian holding Clary's wrist, talking in undertones, laughing softly. Neither noticed a pair of ice-blue eyes following them in the dark depths of the jungle.

As Clary entered the house, she saw that it was full moon.

In the distance, a wolf howled.


	9. A Surprise Visit

**Hi everyone! Sorry for the long wait - and thanks so much for all the reviews! *muack muack* there are a few that I want to reply to:**

** Soapiepie: actually Clary hasn't converted completely to Sebastian's side yet - she's still rather confused! Ahhh you'll see after this chapter :)**

** WanderingSpectre: yes ClaryxSebastian is my guilty pleasure too /hehe/ which is why i'm writing this in the first place! thanks for the support!**

**Thanks also to Ariya and angelsrushin for the continual support :) can't wait to hear what you think of the coming chapters! **

**Finally a big thank you to ALL MY REVIEWERS :D**

**All characters belong to Cassandra Clare.**

* * *

_Clary was walking on a frozen lake. It was snowing. Flakes of white muffled her vision and swirled around her periphery._

_She saw walking in front of her a figure with two enormous golden wings. An angel, trudging tiredly in the snow, wings wrapped around his body as if affected by mortal coldness. She saw that he has blonde hair, and suddenly every contour of his body became crystal clear to her._

'_Jace!' Clary cried, and tried to run forward. The figure turned around, and she saw it was indeed Jace, her beloved, her darling. Hot tears were streaming down her face. 'Jace. I've missed you so much – I think about you every day – Can you stay with me? Please?'_

_Only then did she notice that Jace's face was drawn in sadness. 'Clary, Clary,' he whispered. 'I was afraid you have forgotten me. Forgotten all that we've been through.'_

_Clary laughed, but she was a bit uneasy. 'Forgotten? How can I?' she said. 'I would never, ever forget you, Jace. I _can_ never.'_

'_And Alec and Isabelle and Simon?' he asked. 'And the Clave and the Angel? Can you say you haven't forgotten all that?'_

'_I haven't – '_

_His face suddenly turned dark. 'You're lying, and you do not love me anymore.'_

'_Jace!' Clary said in desperation. 'Look, all the stuff with Sebastian, I can explain – Jace!'_

_She cried in alarm as Jace suddenly held a black dagger in hand. Without warning he struck it across himself, so that a ragged, bloody wound cut his body into half. Clary was crying and crying and crying. His golden wings wilted and fell. From his wound sprouted black wings, dark as midnight, sweeping the horizons with its darkness. And when she looked up, she saw Sebastian's mocking face._

'_Explain what about me, my sister?' he asked, his voice eerily gentle._

_Clary screamed._

* * *

Sebastian could not sleep.

It came upon him sometimes, these bouts of sleeplessness – he was aware that as a not-quite-human, he needed sleep less than normal people. Even when he was living with his father he was used to roam about at night, like some forsaken nocturnal creature, after Valentine was asleep.

Silently he turned the doorknob and slipped into Clary's room. He remembered that he had not yet given her the customary goodnight kiss. They were too tired from the day's adventures; each had just plunged into shower when they got home and then collapsed onto bed. Only, in Sebastian's case, after two hours of lying down he could not sleep.

Moonlight streamed into the room at the foot of Clary's bed, but she drew the curtains so her face was shrouded in darkness. Sebastian stood beside her, watching her face. He liked how the night made her looked, soft and childlike, but shaded and mysterious. He liked how in sleep her features relaxed, her mouth parted slightly as if waiting to be kissed. Her red hair had lost their fieriness and was spread limp and smooth on the pillow, a ruddy brown, and he suddenly felt he could bury his face in it.

Sebastian closed his eyes. What was all this he was thinking? He knew from the start that he loved Clary, but he did not expect _caring_ for her. He did not think he could care for anything. But now, watching her sleep, it was as though he would give anything to let her continue to sleep like that, peaceful and unhurt, even his life.

And that made _him_ vulnerable. Sebastian gritted his teeth. He did not like the feeling.

Clary was groaning, and he opened his eyes. She was not sleeping well. 'Don't go,' she said suddenly; and Sebastian started. Had she known he was here? She fell silent for a second; Sebastian bent his face over hers, as if staring at her eyelids would let him see her dreams. She started speaking again, agitatedly, 'Don't go – Jace.'

Sebastian's face stiffened. He straightened up slowly, as Clary continued to cry out, 'Jace – Jace – Jace.' He walked slowly across the room, slipped out the door. The moonlight in the corridor hit his face as if in a slap.

* * *

'Good morning,' said Clary cheerily as she sat down to the loaded breakfast table.

Sebastian's eyes flicked up at her. 'Good morning,' he said casually. 'Did you have a good sleep?'

Clary had been knocked out from eleven the night before to ten in the morning. She would have been extraordinarily well-rested if not for that dream, of which every detail was etched in her brain. 'Yes, I would say so.' She raised an eyebrow. 'You?'

Sebastian shrugged. 'Good, as per normal.' He shoved a forkful of pancake into his mouth, and seemed disinclined to talk. Only when breakfast was nearly finished did he speak again, 'By the way, I should tell you that we have a visitor today.'

'Visitor?' Clary nearly choked. They were living in a multi-dimensional pocket, the whole purpose of which was that no one could ever find them. A visit to their house must be as rare an occurrence as a comet crash onto earth. 'Who?'

'You'll see,' Sebastian said. 'In fact, I think he's here already.'

There was a rustle at the front door, which was really the wall of the kitchen; Amatis had gone to receive the visitor that had somehow been able to get to the entrance of their house without anyone bringing him there. Clary's fist tensed up instinctively around her knife. Life with Sebastian had taught her to be vigilant, for her own sake, and she fully expected a slime-covered ogre or at least something as lethal as a snarky dark faerie to come crashing into the room.

What she did not expect was a flutter of blue glitter, some very familiar tight leather jeans, and gelled hair with purple highlights. Narrowed eyes traced with black eyeliner, gold-green and stealthy as a cat's. Clary's jaw dropped in absolute shock, 'MAGNUS!'

'Bane,' said Sebastian, as welcome.

Magnus looked no less shocked than Clary, for some reason. He stared at her as if he could not believe his eyes. '_Clary_,' he muttered. 'So you're _really_ here.'

Clary felt hit by the full force of his stare, now fast turning into a glare, as if by a physical blow. 'What – what do you mean?' she stammered. She suddenly realized how it must have looked, she sitting here at leisure, having breakfast with Sebastian who for God's sake killed two of the Lightwoods and was the incarnation of evil. 'I – '

'You're here with _him_,' Magnus jerked as thumb at Sebastian, who was folding his napkin neatly on the table. 'Well, hit me over with a bowl hanger. I tried not to believe it, even when I saw your letter, but…' he shook his head. 'Just…_how could you?'_

'Magnus,' said Clary, trying to do damage control. She stood up hastily from the dining table and walked towards him, arms widespread. 'It's not like that. Look, I can talk to you later if you want…'

'Clary is with me,' said Sebastian, standing up also. 'And what the hell is a bowl hanger?'

'What does it sound like, jerk?' snapped Magnus, turning to look at Sebastian with loathing. With that look, Clary knew suddenly that their visitor actually _was _more lethal than any faerie or ogre could possibly be. And worst, she was going to be caught in the middle of the crossfire.

In all the past weeks with Sebastian, Clary had imagined escaping, of finding the way back to the Shadowhunter world and reuniting with her family and friends – well, family other than Sebastian –even as slowly, she came to accept him more and more. Never in her wildest dreams had she pictured an element of her old life crashing into the new. Magnus surrounded by his cloud of glitter, standing in the middle of Sebastian's spotless dining room, was too surreal. Clary could not even begin to panic; she could not think.

'Magnus – ' she said.

'We have business,' drawled Sebastian, gesturing at the sofa. 'Would you like to take a seat?'

Magnus swept past Clary without another glance. Hesitating, she scurried after him. She could not help noticing Sebastian's murderous stare when she took the side of the sofa with Magnus, opposite his. Great job, she thought. Now you've got the other person in this room mad at you.

'Why are you here, anyway?' she asked Magnus, trying to sound casual.

'Like you don't know,' said Magnus flatly, still not looking at her.

'I actually don't.'

'Spoken like a true Morgenstern, huh?' said Magnus, raising an eyebrow. 'Had your brother taught you to lie as glibly as he, or have you been doing it all along under our noses, Clarissa?'

'_Magnus_,' said Clary, exploding in impatience. 'Believe me or not, I have no clue. Now if you still refuse to tell me – '

Magnus threw something into her lap as if into a rubbish dump. Clary picked it up. It was a letter, written in a very familiar handwriting, addressed from Sebastian to Magnus. It took a few seconds for her to register that the handwriting was her own.

It was her turn to be mad. She turned to Sebastian and yelled, 'What the _hell?'_

'What?' asked Sebastian innocently.

Magnus looked from one to the other. 'So you actually _don't _know what's going on,' he said calmly. 'I suspected something was wrong when I sensed the demonic association of the letter, but I didn't know it stemmed from magically aided forgery. Now it makes sense. You know,' he sat back, seeming to admire the scene before him. 'I've always found the amount of trust exhibited between siblings admirable.'

'You – this is my handwriting!' yelled Clary at Sebastian. 'I don't think that's something you can take and use at will without permission!'

'I've taken _you_ without permission,' pointed out Sebastian. He narrowed his eyes. 'Don't pretend as if you don't know what I am, Clarissa.'

'Yeah, I thought you might have actually become less of a demon. I was wrong.'

Sebastian flushed slightly, opened his mouth to snap back, glanced at Magnus and promptly shut it again. He sat up straighter and composed his face. 'I'll deal with you later,' he told Clary coldly. 'You may leave us now.'

'No,' Clary sat back defiantly.

'Suit yourself.' Sebastian paid no more attention to her. 'Magnus Bane. I see you have considered my offer.'

'Your _offer_,' said Magnus scornfully. 'You only wanted to see my dad. You mentioned nothing to give to me in return.'

'Which is what we would be discussing now,' said Sebastian smoothly. 'You are right in saying that I'd like a meeting with Faustus. I am gathering my forces for the insurgence. But you, warlock, must not be so stupid as not to see that the invitation extends to yourself as well.'

Magnus raised an eyebrow. 'So my side of the deal is that I'll join you,' he said flatly. 'Am I the only one who sees something wrong here?'

Sebastian looked at him steadily. 'You don't understand the implications. Magnus,' he said, 'I can give you the world.'

Magnus started laughing. 'I can show you the world,' he hummed under his breath. 'Shining, shimmering –'

'Splendid,' finished Clary, grinning.

Sebastian came close to rolling his eyes at the two of them. 'I am serious. Please.'

'And so am I, Morgenstern,' said Magnus, leaning in. 'Look. I have no reason to want a world created by you, and every reason to go against it.'

'Think again,' drawled Sebastian. 'Isn't there something you want, very, very much, that you can't have?'

Magnus smile froze suddenly. His eyes flashed with understanding, and then narrowed. 'I forget I am dealing with a demon,' he said softly. 'I see where this is going.'

'A half-demon, like yourself, my brother,' said Sebastian. 'And yes. You want immortality.'

Clary looked at him incredulously. 'God, Sebastian, Magnus already _has_ immortality.'

'Not for himself,' he said. 'For another.'

Magnus ran his hands over his eyes, and Clary knew. 'Alec.'

'You cannot stand having your immortality taken away by him,' said Sebastian. 'But you can't stand losing him to time, either. Isn't that the best solution?'

'Humans cannot be made immortal,' said Magnus, his face still hidden by his hands. 'It's against the Laws.'

'Clave Laws,' said Sebastian, raising an eyebrow.

'Not just Clave Laws,' said Magnus. 'Every conceivable law goes against it. The Gray Book of Magic. The White Book of Magic. It's probably written somewhere in the Laws of Heaven.'

'The Laws of the Heaven do not exist,' said Sebastian. 'You know it as well as I do. You, with Faustus for father, who would have passed to you a large part, if not all, of the eternal and boundless knowledge he has obtained by trading his soul with the Devil. There are no laws. There are only rules made up by other beings.'

'Alec would not want to live forever,' Magnus said, but even he sounded doubtful.

'He would, if he were with you,' said Sebastian. 'The Clave, the Shadowhunter community has never served you well. You are looked down upon as inferior to them, even when you have greater power –'

'I do seek to be superior.'

' – And they frowned upon homosexuality,' said Sebastian. 'And that has hurt Alexander Lightwood considerably. You know that, do you not?' Magnus did not speak. 'Why live in a society where the status of only one group is elevated through discrimination of all others, where you have no personal liberty?'

'And how do you propose to change that?' challenged Magnus. 'The Shadowhunter traditions are formed hundreds of years ago; my loved one lives bounded by them. And Shadowhunters will defend their world, or they will die.'

'That is something else I'm offering,' said Sebastian. 'If you help me, Alec Lightwood does not have to die.'

Clary started violently. 'None of the Lightwoods are going to die,' she said fiercely.

'Clary, get out of the room,' said Sebastian.

'No, she stays,' said Magnus. 'And she is right. None of the Lightwoods are going to die. In fact, no one should die. I cannot help you make more people lose their lives.'

Sebastian stared at him. 'You cannot stop me. Save whom you can.'

Magnus fell silent for a long time. 'How about this,' he said finally. 'You give me a week to consider. I would get back to you by fire letter.'

'No deal,' said Sebastian flatly. 'Either you agree, or you do not leave this house.'

'Oh, so is this what we have come to now?' said Magnus sarcastically. 'Forced detention?'

'Don't think I don't know what you're playing at,' said Sebastian. 'Once you leave, you'll report everything you see and hear to the Shadowhunters. So I need you bound by oath and blood before you step out of here.'

'And you're not going to let me leave until I agree to help you,' said Magnus, leaning back. 'I have stepped into a trap. And Clary's handwriting was the bait.' He murmured. 'I should have known.'

'Sebastian,' said Clary, looking at Magnus rather anxiously. 'Maybe you should play fair for once. I'm sure Magnus – '

'Clary, for the last time, get _out of the room!'_ yelled Sebastian, seeming to lose his patience at last. 'Stop interfering in my business. I don't care what you think, goddammit!'

Clary's mouth dropped open. 'And you think you have the right to talk to me like that?' she yelled back. 'You used _me_ to lure my friend into a trap! After all that I've done for you, this is how you're repaying me?'

'Oh, let's hear it, what have you done for me exactly?' said Sebastian, his voice dripping with acidity.

'How about saving your life?'

'How about getting me into shit that nearly lost my life in the first place?'

'What,' spluttered Clary. 'Are you talking about?'

'Maybe _I_ should leave the room for a while,' said Magnus.

Sebastian ignored him. 'Face it, Clary, you're nothing but a liability. If you haven't insisted on coming with me, I would have finished the business anyway, and probably in less time. You're ignorant, you can't fight, you keep interfering – '

'Oh, really?' said Clary, through gritted teeth. She had known all that, but somehow it still hurt. 'Maybe you should have thought about that before you kidnapped me in the first place. And I'm sorry that I ever tried to help. That I ever thought there might be good in you, that you could be saved. I should have known, you're nothing but a demon. A filthy, vile, repulsive demon.'

He snarled. 'Right. That's what I was, that's what I am, and what I'll always be. I'm sorry that _you_ ever deluded yourself to think otherwise. Maybe if you haven't been trying so hard to use me as a substitution for _Jace_ – '

'Woah, woah,' said Magnus, as Clary stood up, her fists clenched, knocking over a glass of water. 'Do you think you're good enough for _anyone_ to mistake _you_ for _Jace_, even for a second?' she screamed. 'Jace is _angelic_! He's the opposite of _you_! Don't you even _dare_ putting your name and his in the same sentence. And you know who's delusional here? You think that you're saving the world, but everyone else _knows_ you're better off _dead_.'

Sebastian flinched at the word. 'Maybe you should have thought of that before you saved my life,' he sneered. He rose and grabbed Clary by the arm, hard. 'Now get the _hell_ out,' he said, pushing her physically towards the door. 'I don't want to see you.'

'I can walk,' said Clary. 'I don't want to see you either. Not now, not ever.' She turned and stalked towards the wall of the kitchen, so that she could hide the tears that were welling up in her eyes. 'Goodbye, Sebastian. I hope you'll die soon.'

He stared after her. 'Go on and walk out,' he said. 'I'm tired of you. I hope _you_ won't die outside, unlikely as that might be. Because there's no way I'll ever let you come back.'

'I wouldn't,' said Clary and pushed the door in the kitchen wall, which had remained from when Magnus had entered so that he could walk out to the same place he came from. She heard Magnus saying behind her, 'Maybe I should escort Clary,' and heard him being pushed down into the sofa violently. She heard the starting out of a fight. She heard Amatis flying down from upstairs. She walked out into the sunshine, and slammed the door behind her.

She was facing a pagoda. Behind her, there was nothing.


	10. The Break

**Hi everyone! Here's my new chapter (: thanks for all the reviews for the last chapter, it was quite a twist haha. I'm sorry that in my story Jace would most likely not return into the picture :/ not that I have anything against him, but Clary and Sebastian wouldn't have a happy ending if he did! I guess CoHF would take care of Clace :D **

**Please help to review! Thanks for all the feedback and support!**

**All characters belong to Cassandra Clare.**

'You're saying you saw them?' said Jocelyn, leaning forward and grabbing the sleeve of the man. He was a big, rough-looking guy, clad in the tough canvas clothing of the countryside, with a bushy beard.

'Easy, Jocelyn,' said Luke soothingly.

'Yes'm, I did,' said the man. 'I was patrolling the area like our pack leader asked me to, and I saw a boy and a girl coming up from the lake, around midnight last night.'

'God,' said Jocelyn, 'If only we've been here one day earlier.'

'This is not bad already,' said Luke. 'At least we know they've been here.'

'But they've sailed off. We have to try tracing their tracks all over again.'

'How was the girl?' asked Simon anxiously. 'Did she look well?'

'Well, I can't really tell because of the distance,' said the werewolf, 'but she walked normally and didn't look injured or anything.'

'They were walking together,' said Jocelyn suddenly. 'Was the boy – was he holding on to her by some means? A rope, maybe? Or did she walk on her own?'

'If I'm not wrong, he was holding her by her wrist.'

Jocelyn and company glanced at one another. 'Well then, either Sebastian was dragging Clary by force…' began Jordan.

'Or they've become closer,' finished Maia.

All fell silent for a moment. Then Simon shook his head as if to clear it. 'No. We cannot doubt Clary now. What is most important is to get her back first. I'm sure there's an explanation for everything.'

'Simon is right,' said Jocelyn, with a motherly smile. 'Clary is our greatest priority.'

'The thing is what will happen after we found her,' said Luke. 'If what Arty here said was true, then Clary, willingly or not, have been involved in what Sebastian was up to. And that would not be good for her when she is tried by the Clave.'

Jocelyn looked at him sharply. 'Who said anything about the Clave?' she asked. 'She is my daughter. I'll find her when they've given her up. We're not returning her to _them_.'

'We can't afford to go against the Clave now. A war is coming,' said Luke calmly. 'We need its protection. Especially if it is Clary.'

'If Clary wants to live a normal life again, she has to be recognized by the Clave, Mrs Fray,' reasoned Simon.

Jocelyn's shoulders sagged. 'Alright,' she said. 'But let's find her first, shall we?'

* * *

Clary was standing on a well-tended lawn, in what looked like a regular park. It was late morning; sunshine streaming in through the trees laden with pink blossoms was almost directly overhead. The pink blossoms and the unmistakable multi-layered tiled-roof building in front of her – the pagoda – reminded her immediately how stupid she was. By the looks of it she was somewhere in Asia. She was wearing the clothes she slept in last night and had not a cent in her pocket. As always, she acted before thinking.

She felt around her belt and felt the comforting shape of her stele and dagger. At least she knew that she would be able to handle emergencies should they arise. Yet she had no clue what she should do now, or where she should go.

Then she realized something. She was free, at last. She could go and find the Lightwoods, her mother, Luke, Simon. She had escaped.

Clary marveled at thought. Why did Sebastian let her go? She had half-expected him to stop her by physical force, because surely it was insane to let her go free, after all that she knew and all that she had been through. Then she realized that Sebastian must not have been thinking properly. That he was very, very angry.

Almost as angry as she was. Because she was not in her right mind either, was she, to step out of the house into god knows where just like that? Leaving behind Magnus, and … Sebastian. That was when she realized that she had never meant to just leave her brother like that, to never see him again.

She pushed down the bubble of regret that she felt was rising inside her, and forced herself to look around. Right now the priority is to let the others know she was here. The park was not deserted; here and there were people strolling about, taking photos of the pagoda, couples sitting on the benches and talking. A phone, she thought. She could use a phone.

After trying unsuccessfully to communicate with a couple of the local Japanese people – for Clary soon realized that she was in Japan – in her attempt to borrow a phone, she saw a girl sitting alone on a bench, in an alcove made by the hedges. She looked a year or two older than Clary and was Asian, with long, straight, black hair twisted into a messy knot and round vintage brown-framed glasses. Clary saw that she was reading a book, and her heart leapt, for the cover of the book was in English.

'Excuse me,' she said, approaching the girl. 'I'm really sorry but...could I borrow your phone to make a call?'

The girl glanced up at her suspiciously. 'Are you American or something?' she asked.

Clary was surprised at her accent. 'Yes. Are you?'

'I've lived in New York for ten years of my life,' the girl informed her. 'How come you don't have a phone?'

'Well, it's a long story,' Clary said, wondering at how to best convey her situation. 'I've been travelling, but then I had a fight with someone and was sort of dropped off here, and I don't really know where I am, and I have nothing except what I'm wearing now.' She added quickly, seeing the disbelieving look on the girl's face. 'I swear, all that was true. Look, I just need to make one international call to my mom. Is that okay?'

'If that's your boyfriend you're talking about, he's a jerk,' said the girl, surprisingly sympathetic. Clary stared at her. 'You know, dumping you in a foreign country like that, with nothing. You could have died or something.'

Sebastian's words came ringing in Clary's mind. _I hope you won't die outside, though that's unlikely_. 'No,' she said. 'He's not my boyfriend.'

'You're travelling alone with him,' the girl said. 'Sorry, but that means you guys are ninety-percent going out. Unless he's a brother or something.'

'Actually, he _is_ my brother,' said Clary, surprised at the simplicity of the explanation. She suddenly remembered Sebastian's lips on hers, and blushed fiercely. 'I mean, he's not. Not exactly. As in, it's sort of complicated.'

The girl nodded. 'Ah.' She extended her hand suddenly. 'I'm Luna. Luna Fukushima. Nice to meet you. I've just been dumped by my boyfriend too.'

'Clarissa Morgenstern, but call me Clary,' Clary said, shaking her hand. 'Wow, I'm sorry. What happened?'

'Oh, it wasn't that bad, we've only been dating for three days,' said Luna dismissively. 'He realized something about me, so he ran off. End of story.' She squinted at Clary. 'And what happened to you guys?'

'Well,' said Clary, sitting down on the bench besides Luna and staring off into the sky. 'I don't really know how to put it. He's sort of the enemy of many of my friends. And my parents. All the people I know, basically. But I happen to think he's that not bad. And he kind of likes me. And I've been travelling with him for a while when this old friend of mine came suddenly and I guess I was just not ready for them to meet, and I wasn't ready to accept _him_ into my old life. And we both just got really angry and I called him some names and walked off and he left. That's all.'

Silence fell. Clary looked around, surprised. Luna was looking thoughtfully into the distance. It was a while after when she spoke. 'Well, I guess, sometimes when you feel like it's _right_, you have to go against the wishes of some other people. That, or convince them. You have to.'

'That's the thing,' said Clary. 'I don't think it's right. I think it's wrong.'

'But you still like him anyway.' Clary was silent. 'See, you don't disagree.'

'I don't _like_ him,' she said, defensively. 'I just don't hate him. It's just that because so many other people hate him so much, my feelings for him would seem to amount to more, when it really isn't.'

'But now you regret walking out on him.'

'Yeah,' said Clary quietly, hugging herself. The moment she said it she felt it to be true. How was she ever going to see Sebastian again, except on the opposite sides of a battlefield? Those rare, precious moments, when she could almost feel their hearts touching, one human being's to another's, were gone forever. 'Yeah, I do, actually.'

She could almost see Sebastian in front of her now, his cap of silver hair shining in the sunlight, his dark eyes boring deep into hers, smirking at her defeat. There was a rustle beside her; Luna handed her the phone. 'Try to make it short,' she said. 'But decide who you're going to call.'

'I don't have a choice,' muttered Clary. 'He doesn't have a phone.' She took the phone and punched in the familiar string of numbers that associated with a comforting name: Simon.

'Ah,' said Luna, watching her. 'But you would call him if he had one.'

'Maybe,' said Clary, turning to look at her. 'Why are you trying to hard to convince me that I like him?'

Luna turned away. 'I just don't want you to make the same mistakes I've once made, little girl.'

* * *

Sebastian threw Magnus physically into the basement with a loud thud. For all the skinny jeans and the glitter, warlock was a lot heavier than he would expect and had put up a much tougher fight. It took both of Sebastian and Amatis together to chain Magnus's hands and ankles together, and even then he tried to bite them. Now, his yellow-green eyes glared up at Sebastian, wide with resentment.

'Boy, you would regret it,' said Magnus with loathing. 'No way I'm ever going to help you after being treated like this.'

Sebastian put his face close to Magnus's and smiled menacingly. It was as though something had snapped inside him when Clary left, Magnus thought; now his face resembled that of a madman's. 'Suck it up, then,' Sebastian spat, pushing Magnus's head down so it banged against the stone floor. 'Because you're not leaving this place till you make the smart choice.'

'You know it won't be long before they find you,' said Magnus without a flinch. 'Now that Clary has managed to escape, the Clave would be down your back in a week, at most.'

'She wouldn't say anything to the Clave,' snarled Sebastian. 'And there is nothing she can do to jeopardize me. Nothing.'

'How sure you are of her,' sneered Magnus. 'Maybe I would be more convinced if she hasn't walked out on you in the first place.'

Sebastian's face twisted slightly. 'You better stop talking soon, warlock, or you will regret it.'

'Aren't you worried about her?' asked Magnus. 'Isn't your little lovesick heart wondering, where is she now and how is she doing? Is she starving? Is she shivering in the cold? Is she being hunted by tigers in an Asian jungle? Is she drowning in the Pacific Ocean?'

Sebastian turned violently and raised his foot, aiming at Magnus stomach. Magnus grinned. 'I can give you that information, my dear. You don't want to be violent.'

Sebastian lowered his foot slightly. 'All right, let's hear it then,' he said. 'Where did you come from?'

Magnus motioned at his chains. 'Release me first.'

'No deal,' said Sebastian. 'Tell me first, then I'll unchain you. If you refuse, I'll just torture the information out of you, so you be careful.'

'I haven't lived through eight hundred years without knowing some little things about torture,' said Magnus. 'Go on and try. In the mean time Clary could be dying out there. And you would be the one who's killed her.'

Sebastian smiled, but it looked more like a grimace. 'No. If she died, _you_ would be at fault, not me.' He stood up. 'I wonder that you're not worried about her at all yourself. In that case I would assume she is pretty safe for now. Unlike someone who will be starved until he agrees to cooperate.'

Magnus laughed a short, hard laugh. 'All right, you had me there.' He narrowed his eyes. 'How about this. You release me, and for your part you get to put an oath of silence on me and know where Clary is. I just need some time to think through your offer. Time that is _not_ spent in someone else's dungeon.'

Sebastian considered for a long moment. 'And I put a bind on you so that you have to return to me with a decision within three days.'

'I've already been generous,' said Magnus, shaking his head. 'Remember, Clary is moving away from where she first stepped into this very moment. And most possibly she would be telling her mom and the Clave all about you.'

Sebastian's face hardened again. 'I told you I am sure about Clary.'

'And why? Why exactly are you so sure?'

'Because she belongs with me,' said Sebastian, simply. 'I feel it in my blood. And I know she feels it too, even if she does not know it. Listen, warlock,' he leant in. 'From the moment I took Clary along, I knew that I'm taking a risk. And that's a new for me, taking risks. But it doesn't matter because with Clary, I'm doing things that are new to me every day. So I want to trust her, and I _will_ trust her, even with my life. Because my life is meant to be trusted with hers. Don't talk if you don't know what you're saying, warlock.'

'Actually,' said Magnus, thinking of Alec's blue eyes. 'I do.'

Magnus examined the boy in front of him. It was the first time he was seeing him without the word 'evil' etched on his forehead, without Valentine like a shadow stretching out behind him, without black demon blood showing through his dark veins under his pale skin. And Magnus saw a boy in love. It could have been himself when he was seven hundred years younger. In love and unloved and dreaming that he was changing the world.

'Jace,' he said, suddenly. 'But Clary cares for Jace. You know that.'

'Jace,' said Sebastian, pronouncing the word with venom, 'is dead.'

'The dead cast shadows on the lives of the living,' said Magnus. 'If he is still in her heart, he still lives.'

Sebastian closed his eyes. 'Let me be honest with you, Magnus,' he said slowly. 'I never thought he was a threat to me. I mean, who is he? Angel's boy, pretty but vulnerable. I've heard about him from young and I sometimes envied the house he lived in, envied how Father always seemed to be more pleasant to him than to me – but I wasn't _jealous,_ because I knew I was better. I knew Father trusted me more. I am his _real_ son. I thought it's the same with Clary,' he opened his eyes. 'I didn't know – I didn't know how much she really cared for him, until… a while ago.'

'I bet it was devastating,' observed Magnus, not entirely unsympathetic. 'I know the boy. Jace has his merits, but it's infuriating how he gets everyone to be all concerned about him and risking their lives for him. When people are around him, they feel inferior. They feel as if their lives worth less than his. But that's not true. I know what you're talking about, Sebastian Morgenstern.' Sebastian looked at him strangely. Magnus added placidly. 'Yeah, I know. Surprises me too that we can understand each other, for once.'

'Alec Lightwood, huh,' said Sebastian wonderingly. 'The boy with the bow and arrows and blue eyes.'

'That's my boy,' smiled Magnus, but his eyes were sad.

'Not any longer,' said Sebastian, looking hard at Magnus. 'Look. You want to think seriously about my offer. Believe me, I don't want to make everyone suffer. This may sound strange, but I _want_ people to be happy. After all, only contented people would give me power.' He paused, and said with difficulty. 'I want you and Alec to be happy together.'

'Wow,' said Magnus. 'Clary has really worked her magic on you.'

'So what do you say to our deal?' asked Sebastian, ignoring him.

'Untie me,' said Magnus. Sebastian hesitated, but did so. Magnus flexed his wrists and ankles, and stretched like a cat. 'That's better. Well, Sebastian,' he said. 'Let me get this straight. I'm not on your side. This is purely a deal of mutual benefits. You get me out, I tell you where Clary is. I get you a meeting with Faustus, you promise to let the Lightwoods live, and see to it that Alec and I lived happily together _forever after_.' He narrowed his eyes. 'If any part of the promise is not met, you will be struck down by heavenly fire.'

'Deal,' smiled Sebastian. Magnus drew a pentagon on the floor with his finger, leaving hardly a trace; but the pentagon burnt brightly after he was done. He bit on his thumb and dripped blood into the centre of the burning figure. Sebastian did the same. The black spots of their blood mingled and sizzled, and was then gone.

'Now,' said Sebastian, turning to Magnus with some urgency. 'We need to find Clary.'


	11. Mundane World

**Hi everyone! Sorry for the long wait for this chapter, I had a bit of trouble :( As always, I hope you guys will enjoy it! Thank you all reviewers, you are wonderful:)**

**All characters belong to Cassandra Clare.**

After muttering furiously for the tenth time, 'I can't talk, I'm calling international from someone else's phone' to an uncharacteristically overemotional Simon, and nearly yelling at him to _not_ hand the phone over to her mother, Clary sat down beside Luna again with a relieved sigh. 'So that was over,' she told her.

'Your family's been worried, huh,' said Luna.

'You bet,' said Clary, refraining with difficulty from rolling her eyes. 'But they tend to overreact, actually. So.'

Luna raised an eyebrow. 'You ran off with a guy who, as far as I know, is the mortal enemy of your family, and you blame them?'

'Yeah, well,' said Clary, trying to shrug it off. 'It's a bit complicated. Hey, do you happen to know where the airport is?'

'Yeah, you have to take a bus,' said Luna. 'I could walk you to the bus stop.'

'That'd be great – you aren't busy or anything?'

'Nope. Recovering from a heart break, remember?' Luna said nonchalantly. 'Let's go.'

Clary followed her companion as they walked through the sunny, picturesque park, away from the people milling around the pagoda, into more deserted areas well shaded by the interlacing and overhanging branches of huge magnolia trees. Clary shivered slightly; the breeze was chilly. It feels like autumn was approaching. She glanced around uneasily. The cold made her uncomfortable, but also the shades and shadows. She kept wondering – with half-hope – if Sebastian would suddenly pop out from under one of these trees, and if he would meet her with a hug or a knife.

Luna walked with terse, brisk steps, and kept glancing over her shoulder impatiently at Clary, who had to hurry to keep up. At that moment something dark flashed across the periphery of Clary's vision. She turned her head quickly – but it was only an old Japanese man, waddling in the shade, carrying a large, broken black umbrella.

'What are you looking at?' Luna asked curiously.

'Nothing,' Clary shook her head. 'Just – never mind.'

'You're wondering if he would show up,' stated Luna.

Clary had to make an effort to sound composed. 'Not really. I wouldn't know what to do if he had,' she admitted. 'I don't know if I still want to go with him.'

Luna shook her head. 'Girl, you wanna make that decision soon.'

Another flash of dark. Clary turned again, involuntarily. The old man was still strolling leisurely at some distance beside them, but now by his side was a little boy, by the looks of it his grandson, who Clary could almost swear was not here before. He was wearing a white shirt and held swinging a small, black umbrella in his hand.

Clary's breath caught. Her heart started pounding. 'What are you _staring_ at?' asked Luna again, catching her gaze.

'Look,' said Clary, in a half-whisper. 'Isn't there – something strange about them?'

'About what?' said Luna, looking strangely at Clary.

_She couldn't see them_. The moment this realization flashed across her mind Clary's hand went to her waist for her dagger. But they were faster. In the same instant both faces were turned towards her and she saw that their eyes were flipped upwards so that only whites were showing, and what they were holding in their hands were not umbrellas but tails. The next moment the old man and the boy snarled, their features erupting into the points and scales of a reptile, and launched themselves at Clary.

'Run!' yelled Clary, pushing Luna out of the way as she avoided the demons' assault narrowly, throwing herself at the ground. 'What the hell!' Luna screamed back as she was thrust onto the ground, but Clary had no time to heed her. She clambered up again and met the demon's claw with her dagger. It took all her strength to fend off the blow. She twisted her dagger inward, drawing a gash in the creature's palm; it screeched and launched forward to bite. She jumped away hastily, managing to avoid the full blow from the other demon but for a scratch on the arm.

Clary's mind was reeling. Even with a seraph blade, she had little chance of fending off two demons alone – not to mention with a mere dagger. She prayed silently that the blade was blessed with angelic runes to inflict more damage on the demons, but glancing down she saw that like most of Sebastian's weapons they weren't. _Shit_.

Moving as fast as she could, she slashed across the arm of one demon so that black tar-like blood oozed out, and kicked at another – training with Sebastian had marginally helped – and heard Luna gasping. Oh, she nearly forgot, she had to protect someone else as well. The sound of surprise had not just caught Clary's attention, but also that of the demons. They turned to look at Luna now, and Clary could guess without much difficulty what was going on in their little brains. Luna was wide-mouthed in horror and inched slowly backwards.

It took a while for Clary to register that _she could see_ the demons now.

The glamour hiding the demon must have been damaged because she wounded it, she realized. In that case, Luna could only see one demon and not the other. As the two monsters made their lunge, Clary dashed and by throwing her whole weight into her run managed to knock one off its feet. But the other one charged straight at Luna, its blood-red mouth wide open. Luna screamed –

And there was a resounding bang of a gunshot. Clary did not have time to look around; the demon she was fighting was distracted; she thrust the dagger with all her force into its throat, where she vaguely remembered the heart of this demon was located at. Blood spurted thickly in all directions and the demon screamed in agony – and then grew still, withered and was gone.

Clary whipped around only to see the other carcass disappearing in front of Luna – Luna, gun in hand, shivering like a leaf. Clary's jaw dropped as she met Luna's eyes. _What just happened? _As she walked slowly across the grass, she did not know who was more in shock, Luna or herself.

'_Luna_,' she said, slowly and emphatically. 'You just _slew a demon_.'

'Say what,' said Luna, without humour. She turned on Clary with fury smoldering in her eyes. 'You owe me an explanation.'

'Well, I guess there's no point hiding anything from you anymore,' mused Clary. As briefly as possible she explained the demons, the Shadowhunters and the Downworlders to Luna, leaving out however all mention of Sebastian. Luna listened, shoulders slumped forward and eyes literally glittering with excitement.

'Wow,' she said almost in exhilaration, as Clary came to a close.

'You're like my friend Simon,' observed Clary. 'You're both easily excited by all the wrong things.'

'Dude, you should've told me that right from the start,' said Luna, shaking her head. 'But no – I wouldn't have believed it. God, this whole thing is bat-shit crazy.'

'I know,' said Clary, nodding. 'Now you owe me an explanation. Where's the gun from?'

They both glanced down at the lethal piece of metal nestled in Luna's hand. With an impatient sound Luna clicked on the safety catch and thrust the gun into the back of her waistband. 'No kidding,' said Clary. 'We're not in America. And even there I don't see many guns lying around.'

'My boyfriend was a cop,' said Luna, briefly.

Clary looked at her calmly for a moment and decided to take the explanation. 'Never mind. You know,' she said, as a thought crossed her mind. 'You're probably the first mundane to ever kill a demon.'

'Excellent choice of word, by the way,' said Luna, rolling her eyes. '_Mundane_. Why don't you call yourselves _Excitings_ or something? Like the Incredibles.'

'Do you even realize the enormity of it,' said Clary. She had a strange desire to jump up and down. 'Look. Even a Shadowhunter has to train for years before actual demon-slaying. But you – wow. You killed one within like three seconds of you seeing one. You must have shot directly into its mouth, and hit its throat, where the heart is. Instant death.'

'You mean, my gun killed it,' Luna corrected her. 'Don't you guys have guns?'

Clary shook her head. 'Shadowhunters don't deal with technology,' she said. 'The runes mess them up.'

'I can imagine angels not being very happy with modern technology,' said Luna. 'I mean, look at all the trees and the animals we're killing. But still. I think you guys could look into gun making. This whole business can become a lot cleaner.' She looked pointedly at Clary's shirt, stained with black gooey demon blood.

'Shadowhunters can't use technology,' said Clary musingly. 'Mundanes can, but you don't understand demons and you can't see them.'

'Right, Miss Obvious,' said Luna. She turned to continue walking. 'Let's get going.'

* * *

Luna ended up giving Clary money for the bus as well as lunch and dinner, as well as her number. ('I will make you pay back, girl, no worries. That's what I gave you the number for.') As they parted, Clary peered at the retreating back of the girl with her waterfall of black hair. Luna almost reminded her of Isabelle by her attraction to danger and her capacity to fight; but there was also a quality of uncannily accurate judgment in her that was rather unlike Isabelle. Clary liked the idea of possibly seeing Luna again.

It was night when the flight that brought her family to her arrived. She was waiting at the Arrivals area of the airport; it felt almost as if she was the one receiving her family after a trip, instead of the other way round. First to reach her, running, was Jocelyn. She caught Clary in a tight hug and whispered, 'Baby, I'm so glad we've found you.' When she pulled away her eyes were red.

Clary hugged everyone in turn. There was Luke, Simon, Maia and Jordan, all looking extremely glad and relieved to see her. Clary smiled widely. It felt unbelievably good to see everyone again, to feel as if she was a normal girl – as normal as possible under the circumstances – surrounded by family and friends.

'I'm sorry I was away for so long,' she said. 'I just managed to escape.'

'How did you do it?' asked Simon. He shook his head. 'Clary, you're more than amazing.'

'I…' Clary opened her mouth, but hesitated. What was she supposed to say? She couldn't explain that they had a fight and Sebastian let her go because of anger. That sounded as if she was emotionally invested in the whole thing. And she wasn't, was she? She was a hostage. That was what her family saw her as, and that was the part she was determined to play. 'It's a long story.'

'Let's talk about this later,' said Luke, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and half-hugging her. 'We should find something to eat first, and in the early morning we have another flight to catch.'

'I can't wait to go home,' said Clary. _And be away from it all_.

Her five companions exchanged a look. 'What?' said Clary, catching it quickly.

'Oh, Clary, I'm afraid you can't go home just yet,' said Jocelyn softly. She cleared her throat. 'You see, they really need you. And they need to know what you know.'

'Who? What?' said Clary tensely, though she had a feeling she already knew what her mother was talking about.

'The Clave,' explained Jordan. 'They're on an all-out manhunt for Sebastian, now that he's announced his attempt to wage war with us. They need you to tell them whatever information you've gotten out of him.'

Clary kept her face composed, but she felt as if she just swallowed something extremely bitter. 'Sure, why not,' she said, shrugging. 'I would just like to go home and sleep for a while first, that's all.'

'Baby,' said Jocelyn, uncertainly. She looked at Luke again. 'That's not all. They want to try you under the Mortal Sword.'

'Me? The Sword? Why?' asked Clary. A bubble of panic rose inside her. She hadn't realized how much she was unwilling to reveal about Sebastian to the whole world. 'It's not like I'm a criminal. I'm a victim.'

'Yes, we know,' said Jocelyn reassuringly. Her eyes locked with Clary's, pleadingly. 'Clary, we love you and we trust you. I want you to remember that. It's just that the Clave – it's stepping up on its security measures. We're all preparing for war. We need you to help us, as much as possible. You _are_ willing to help us, aren't you?' asked Jocelyn, and Clary saw a flash of something in her eyes, like doubt, like fear.

She pushed her mother away. 'Of course I am. Mom, what are you saying? I'm a Shadowhunter too.' Unbidden she remembered her own words to the Mermaid Queen: _Do not call me a Shadowhunter. Because I am more than one._ She pushed that voice away. She only said that to survive, didn't she? And anyway, that life was behind her now.

Now she had to figure out how to get through the trial without having to admit to the whole world that she loved her brother.


End file.
